Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and Interplanetary Emissary Klaatu Are Not Anti-Atomic: A Reassessment of the Filmic Evidence

Inspired by a 1940s short story by Harry Bates, scripted by Edmund H. North, and directed by Robert Wise, The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) is a science fiction cult classic. Of all its diverse interpretations, a commonly adopted reading influenced by the dawning of the Atomic Age parades it as an anti-nuclear exemplar starring alien emissary Klaatu visiting Earth with his robot companion Gort to (supposedly) suppress humanity’s atomic progress. However, upon a close forensic inspection of the film and commentator comments, this anti-atomic claim is resoundingly rejected. Utilizing humanist film criticism as the guiding analytical lens (i.e., looking inside not outside the frame), plus a selective review of the critical literature, it was demonstrated that: (a) there is a dearth of atomic iconography and dialogue, (b) there is no mention of banning atomic energy or weapons, (c) Earth’s atomics are nascent and not serious threats to the Federation, and (d) Klaatu is not anti-atomic but proudly pro-atomic. Overall, this SF film is strongly pro-nuclear in intention, word, and deed, which was frequently misinterpreted due to faulty film criticism, invented facts, and jumping to conclusions, and thus in need of academic correction. Further research into alien first-contact scenarios, robotic artificial intelligence, and the moral make-up of the SF universe is warranted and long overdue.

A Selective Review of Literature on Social Contribution of Libraries

This article focused a selective review of literature on the role of libraries on educational; social & cultural; economical and political development under the title ‘A selective Review of Literature on Social Contribution of Libraries’. Libraries are changing their nature in the modern age and they offer their services to the user from various requirements of them and play a very important role in society. The library is considered as the heart of an educational institution as well as plays a role as the backbone of an educational institution. And also by offering various services, these libraries added value to education, social & cultural, economic, and political development. In this paper, the literature published on the social contribution of libraries is studied, analysed and, explained. The social contribution of libraries is crucial in the educational, social & cultural, economic and, political development of the nation. From this article scholars and researchers can understand how libraries play the important role in society and also aware of the literature available in this area.

Aesthetics for Communicative Visualization: a Brief Review

We present a brief and somewhat selective review of research on the applied value of aesthetics for communicative visualization. Because aesthetics research in the field of visualization is relatively new, we survey aesthetics research in closely related fields, including psychology, graphic design, and marketing. Because of space limitations, we constrain our discussion of marketing research and omit any examination of related work from human-computer interaction researchers. We conclude with implications for communicative visualization practitioners and researchers, discussing the value of aesthetics and how to achieve it, as well as the need for research on longer-term aesthetic impacts on viewers.

Cerebral White Matter Myelination and Relations to Age, Gender, and Cognition: A Selective Review

White matter makes up about fifty percent of the human brain. Maturation of white matter accompanies biological development and undergoes the most dramatic changes during childhood and adolescence. Despite the advances in neuroimaging techniques, controversy concerning spatial, and temporal patterns of myelination, as well as the degree to which the microstructural characteristics of white matter can vary in a healthy brain as a function of age, gender and cognitive abilities still exists. In a selective review we describe methods of assessing myelination and evaluate effects of age and gender in nine major fiber tracts, highlighting their role in higher-order cognitive functions. Our findings suggests that myelination indices vary by age, fiber tract, and hemisphere. Effects of gender were also identified, although some attribute differences to methodological factors or social and learning opportunities. Findings point to further directions of research that will improve our understanding of the complex myelination-behavior relation across development that may have implications for educational and clinical practice.

Chinese Studies on the Transformation Problem: A Selective Review

Marxian economists in China have put forward several interpretations of the transformation problem that differ from interpretations available in the English Marxian literature. These contributions remain unfamiliar to the English world due to language barriers. Thus, this paper provides a review of four representative Chinese contributions. JEL Classification: B51, C67, D46