Misplaced Pages

#3996

190-712: This article describes characters, which includes a diverse cast of alien , human and synthetic beings, that appear in video games set in the Mass Effect universe . This list only includes player characters, squad members, major antagonists, and other notable characters that appear in the games. Certain characters have names chosen by the player; these characters are designated the name they are addressed by in-game. The appearance and story arcs of certain characters in Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 are conditional upon decisions from prior Mass Effect titles being carried over via an imported save file. Lieutenant James Vega

380-414: A "refreshing change from the philosophizing and soul-searching of the rest of the crew." Thane is a mysterious drell assassin who is terminally ill from a disease known as Kepral's Syndrome, which is exclusive to drell due to their physiology. While a coldblooded killer, Thane possesses a conscience that struggles against his own profession. Shepard may recruit him on the asari -dominated world of Ilium for

570-416: A basic component of the development of a potential extraterrestrial technological civilization, as it is on Earth. Fossil fuels may likely be generated and used on such worlds as well. The abundance of chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere can also be a clear technosignature, considering their role in ozone depletion . Light pollution may be another technosignature, as multiple lights on the night side of

760-611: A catalog of microorganisms, with the way each one reacts to sunlight. The goal is to help with the search for similar organisms in exoplanets, as the starlight reflected by planets rich in such organisms would have a specific spectrum, unlike that of starlight reflected from lifeless planets. If Earth was studied from afar with this system, it would reveal a shade of green, as a result of the abundance of plants with photosynthesis. In August 2011, NASA studied meteorites found on Antarctica, finding adenine , guanine , hypoxanthine and xanthine . Adenine and guanine are components of DNA, and

950-478: A censored version of the film, removing all the scenes with homoerotic references. Viewers protested, saying the deletions made the plot hard to follow. The Arcigay organisation accused the channel of homophobic censorship. The state-owned television network RAI said the Italian film distributor had mistakenly censored the film. RAI showed an uncensored version of the film on March 17, 2009. Brokeback Mountain

1140-474: A cowboy movie ( All the Pretty Horses ). I can't follow it up with a gay-cowboy movie!" Instead, Van Sant went on to make the 2008 biographical film Milk , based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk . Edward Norton and Joel Schumacher were also linked with the project at one point. Focus Features CEO James Schamus optioned the film rights in 2001, but thought it

1330-594: A film did not materialize. Focus Features and River Road Entertainment would jointly produce and distribute the film. After Ledger and Gyllenhaal's casting was announced in 2003, filming commenced in various locations in Alberta in 2004. Brokeback Mountain premiered at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival , where it won the Golden Lion , and was released to theaters on December 9 that year. The film received widespread critical acclaim, with high praise for

1520-435: A heterosexual love scene. The film's significance has been attributed to its portrayal of a same-sex relationship focused solely on the characters, as the film does not refer in any manner to the broader history of various LGBT social movements . It emphasizes the tragic love story aspect, and many critics have compared Ennis and Jack's drama to classic and modern romances such as Romeo and Juliet or Titanic , often using

1710-481: A living entity must have the capacity to replicate itself, the capacity to avoid damage/decay, and the capacity to acquire and process resources in support of the first two capacities. Life on Earth started with an RNA world and later evolved to its current form, where some of the RNA tasks were transferred to DNA and proteins . Extraterrestrial life may still be stuck using RNA, or evolve into other configurations. It

1900-446: A major cultural impact, especially extraterrestrials in fiction . Science fiction has communicated scientific ideas, imagined a range of possibilities, and influenced public interest in and perspectives on extraterrestrial life. One shared space is the debate over the wisdom of attempting communication with extraterrestrial intelligence. Some encourage aggressive methods to try to contact intelligent extraterrestrial life. Others – citing

2090-470: A male Shepard only in Mass Effect 3 . Kaidan is voiced by Raphael Sbarge . Ashley Madeline Williams is a human Alliance Marine, who becomes part of Shepard's squad during the first observed Reaper attack in the first Mass Effect . In a late-game choice on the planet Virmire, the player must choose whether to save Ashley or Kaidan Alenko ; this choice leads to the other character's death. If Ashley

SECTION 10

#1732783856004

2280-534: A math equation, none of its values were known at the time. Although some values may eventually be measured, others are based on social sciences and are not knowable by their very nature. This does not allow one to make noteworthy conclusions from the equation. Based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope , there are nearly 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe. It is estimated that at least ten per cent of all Sun-like stars have

2470-472: A mixed aromatic - aliphatic structure") that could be created naturally, and rapidly, by stars . It is still unclear if those compounds played a role in the creation of life on Earth, but Sun Kwok, of the University of Hong Kong, thinks so. "If this is the case, life on Earth may have had an easier time getting started as these organics can serve as basic ingredients for life." In August 2012, and in

2660-465: A movie that is important to the gay community, but he defamed no one, and he is not a homophobe ." Gene Shalit later apologized for his review: "I did not intend to use a word that many in the gay community consider incendiary... I certainly had no intention of casting aspersions on anyone in the gay community or on the community itself. I regret any emotional hurt that may have resulted from my review of Brokeback Mountain ." Some commentators accused

2850-650: A planetary system formed by a star at the center, the Sun , and the objects that orbit it: other planets, moons, asteroids, and comets. The sun is part of the Milky Way , a galaxy . The Milky Way is part of the Local Group , a galaxy group that is in turn part of the Laniakea Supercluster . The universe is composed of all similar structures in existence. The immense distances between celestial objects

3040-551: A positive reaction from Christianity Today ; the reviewer gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. In a mixed review, Ed Gonzalez of Slant magazine thought the film was too long, and the critic from Time magazine felt that the story became less intense towards the end. Conservative radio host Michael Medved described it as "extremely well done" and that as a film, it was "better than the agenda ". Several conservative political pundits , including commentators Bill O'Reilly , John Gibson , and Cal Thomas , shared Medved's view of

3230-466: A potential explanation to the Fermi paradox. If extraterrestrial life exists, it could range from simple microorganisms and multicellular organisms similar to animals or plants, to complex alien intelligences akin to humans . When scientists talk about extraterrestrial life, they consider all those types. Although it is possible that extraterrestrial life may have other configurations, scientists use

3420-570: A reasonable scientific explanation for any gathered data. In 1961, astronomer and astrophysicist Frank Drake devised the Drake equation as a way to stimulate scientific dialogue at a meeting on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The Drake equation is a probabilistic argument used to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilisations in the Milky Way galaxy . The Drake equation is: where: and Drake's proposed estimates are as follows, but numbers on

3610-443: A result has been conceived, even if hypothetical. Evolution requires life to be divided into individual organisms, and no alternative organisation has been satisfactorily proposed either. At the basic level, membranes define the limit of a cell, between it and its environment, while remaining partially open to exchange energy and resources with it. The evolution from simple cells to eukaryotes, and from them to multicellular lifeforms,

3800-480: A rocky planet can be a sign of advanced technological development. However, modern telescopes are not strong enough to study exoplanets with the required level of detail to perceive it. Brokeback Mountain Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 neo-Western romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee and produced by Diana Ossana and James Schamus . Adapted from the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx ,

3990-515: A sarcastic foil to other individuals he interact with. In Mass Effect 2 , Joker briefly becomes a playable character when the Collectors invade the Normandy to capture its crew in the absence of Shepard and the squad. He can develop a romantic relationship with EDI in Mass Effect 3 if encouraged. Joker is voiced by Seth Green . Jacob Taylor is the protagonist of Mass Effect Galaxy ,

SECTION 20

#1732783856004

4180-468: A scale. Life on Earth is quite ubiquitous across the planet and has adapted over time to almost all the available environments in it, extremophiles and the deep biosphere thrive at even the most hostile ones. As a result, it is inferred that life in other celestial bodies may be equally adaptive. However, the origin of life is unrelated to its ease of adaptation, and may have stricter requirements. A celestial body may not have any life on it, even if it

4370-520: A sense, taking on more human traits herself. During the Alliance raid on Cerberus Headquarters, a Cerberus report discovered in the base retroactively establishes EDI's original identity as a rogue VI which somehow achieved sentience and took over an Alliance training ground located on Earth's moon during an optional mission of the first Mass Effect game . If Shepard chooses to control the Reapers or

4560-476: A series of factors that range from the location in the galaxy and the configuration of the Solar System to local characteristics of the planet, and that it is unlikely that all such requirements are simultaneously met by another planet. The proponents of this hypothesis consider that very little evidence suggests the existence of extraterrestrial life, and that at this point it is just a desired result and not

4750-480: A small breather device, which allows for more facial expressivity. According to a former BioWare employee, Jacob was originally meant to be a bisexual romance option, and that animation work for romance scenes with Commander Shepard of both genders, "matching shot-for-shot from Brokeback Mountain ", was completed prior to intervention from management requesting that the same sex romantic content be removed, blaming backlash from news outlets like Fox News in response to

4940-410: A solid fighter and being an actual spaceship. GameRevolution included EDI in their list of "Women Who Rock Modern Gaming"; praise was focused on her unique contribution to the squad dynamic in Mass Effect 3 with her new body, her inexperience in interacting with humanity which often leads to humorous situations, as well as her integration into the game's main plot during the final act of the game. On

5130-579: A solvent other than water. The low temperatures required would add an extra problem, the difficulty to kickstart a process of abiogenesis to create life in the first place. Norman Horowitz , head of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory bioscience section for the Mariner and Viking missions from 1965 to 1976 considered that the great versatility of the carbon atom makes it the element most likely to provide solutions, even exotic solutions, to

5320-569: A squad mate in Mass Effect 2 . In addition to these, the character also makes an appearance in the Mass Effect: Redemption comic series and in Mass Effect 3 (provided the player does not import a save where she dies). She is revealed to have been genetically designed by her father to be perfect and ran away from home to join Cerberus. Lawson is leader of Cerberus' Lazarus Cell, tasked with reviving Commander Shepard. Aboard

5510-440: A star's light and heat, and so its lifeforms would not grow beyond a certain complexity. There is also research in assessing the capacity of life for developing intelligence. It has been suggested that this capacity arises with the number of potential niches a planet contains, and that the complexity of life itself is reflected in the information density of planetary environments, which in turn can be computed from its niches. It

5700-660: A system of planets, i.e. there are 6.25 × 10 stars with planets orbiting them in the observable universe. Even if it is assumed that only one out of a billion of these stars has planets supporting life, there would be some 6.25 billion life-supporting planetary systems in the observable universe. A 2013 study based on results from the Kepler spacecraft estimated that the Milky Way contains at least as many planets as it does stars, resulting in 100–400 billion exoplanets. The apparent contradiction between high estimates of

5890-495: A tie-in iOS game to Mass Effect 2 . He is a former Systems Alliance soldier who is recruited by Miranda Lawson in Galaxy to investigate a conspiracy involving batarian terrorists. Jacob is encountered in Mass Effect 2 as an official member of Cerberus and Shepard's starting squad member, as well as a potential romantic option for a female Shepard. Unless the player imports a Mass Effect 2 saved game where Jacob does not survive

List of Mass Effect characters - Misplaced Pages Continue

6080-412: A tire iron. Lureen says Jack requested his ashes be scattered on Brokeback Mountain. Ennis visits Jack's parents hoping to carry out his wish. Jack's father declares that Jack's ashes will be interred in a family plot. Jack's mother allows Ennis to visit Jack's bedroom. He finds the shirt Jack thought he left on the mountain, which Jack had secretly kept, nested inside one of his own shirts. Ennis embraces

6270-403: A tryst disguised as a fishing trip, Ennis says he cannot see Jack again for months due to work demands. The pair argue, before Jack embraces a crying Ennis. A postcard Ennis sent Jack is returned stamped with "Deceased". Ennis calls Jack's phone number. Lureen answers and says Jack died when a car tire exploded in his face. While hearing what happened, Ennis envisions men fatally beating Jack with

6460-461: A world first, astronomers at Copenhagen University reported the detection of a specific sugar molecule, glycolaldehyde , in a distant star system. The molecule was found around the protostellar binary IRAS 16293-2422 , which is located 400 light years from Earth. Glycolaldehyde is needed to form ribonucleic acid , or RNA, which is similar in function to DNA. This finding suggests that complex organic molecules may form in stellar systems prior to

6650-402: Is life that originates from another world rather than on Earth . No extraterrestrial life has yet been scientifically conclusively detected. Such life might range from simple forms such as prokaryotes to intelligent beings , possibly bringing forth civilizations that might be far more advanced than humans. The Drake equation speculates about the existence of sapient life elsewhere in

6840-525: Is a biological deviant known as an Ardat-Yakshi. Shepard meets Samara on Illium, where she is found investigating the Eclipse mercenary group who smuggled her daughter off-world. Samara will join Shepard for the suicide mission at the conclusion of the investigation; if Shepard chooses to participate in her quest, a decision has to be made between siding with Samara or Morinth at the climax of the story arc. If

7030-601: Is a difficulty for the study of extraterrestrial life. So far, humans have only set foot on the Moon and sent robotic probes to other planets and moons in the Solar System. Although probes can withstand conditions that may be lethal to humans, the distances cause time delays: the New Horizons took nine years after launch to reach Pluto . No probe has ever reached extrasolar planetary systems. The Voyager 2 has left

7220-491: Is a human Systems Alliance Marine and Shepard's squad member in Mass Effect 3 . James is tasked to escort Shepard to an Alliance defense committee hearing, however the hearing is interrupted when the Reapers attack Earth. James and Ashley or Kaidan, depending on who survived Virmire, retrieve the Normandy SR-2 and pick Shepard up from Earth. James is the main focus of the anime film, Mass Effect: Paragon Lost . James

7410-407: Is a male turian who serves as a squad mate in all three of the games. Garrus is initially a C-Sec officer who joins up with Shepard to escape from all the "red tape" in his job but becomes a vigilante under the alias Archangel on Omega in Mass Effect 2 before his squad is killed. Garrus is a potential romance option for a female Shepard in 2 . In Mass Effect 3 , he leads a "Reaper task force" for

7600-535: Is a result of modifications achieved with technology salvaged from the Reaper Sovereign . She is initially "shackled" with programming which inhibits her decision making, until it was later removed by Joker . In Mass Effect 3 , Shepard's team recovers a Cerberus infiltration unit named Eva to be analyzed after an incident at the Mars research station. EDI assists in doing so, and in the process, struggles with

7790-499: Is a salarian scientist who possesses a hyperactive and eccentric personality, a rapid and stilted manner of speaking, and a flawless autobiographical and eidetic memory which is a typical salarians trait. He is a key member in the science team that researched the remodification of the Krogan Genophage, an action that he initially considered the best possible solution to a once growing problem, as he believes in acting in

List of Mass Effect characters - Misplaced Pages Continue

7980-427: Is about, really, primarily, the first kind of very profound gay love story. Hopefully it can create an equality of an idea: that is, it's possible that you can find love anywhere. That intimacy exists in so many places that convention and society won't always allow us to see. And we won't allow ourselves to see, because of what criticism—and danger, really—it might provoke. Lee interviewed between 20 and 30 actresses for

8170-501: Is also conceivable that there are forms of life whose solvent is a liquid hydrocarbon , such as methane , ethane or propane . Another unknown aspect of potential extraterrestrial life would be the chemical elements that would compose it. Life on Earth is largely composed of carbon, but there could be other hypothetical types of biochemistry . A replacement for carbon would need to be able to create complex molecules, store information required for evolution, and be freely available in

8360-598: Is among the last of the Krogan Battle Masters ; rare individuals who can combine biotic abilities with advanced weaponry and tactics. He joins the crew of the SSV Normandy in the first Mass Effect to hunt down rogue Spectre Saren Arterius, but is later drawn into a stand-off with Commander Shepard in Virmire when he discovers that Saren's scientists have uncovered a cure for the genophage. Depending on

8550-416: Is being carried out both directly and indirectly. As of September 2017 , 3,667 exoplanets in 2,747 systems have been identified , and other planets and moons in the Solar System hold the potential for hosting primitive life such as microorganisms . As of 8 February 2021, an updated status of studies considering the possible detection of lifeforms on Venus (via phosphine ) and Mars (via methane )

8740-403: Is common knowledge that the conditions on other planets in the solar system, in addition to the many galaxies outside of the Milky Way galaxy , are very harsh and seem to be too extreme to harbor any life. The environmental conditions on these planets can have intense UV radiation paired with extreme temperatures, lack of water, and much more that can lead to conditions that don't seem to favor

8930-485: Is complex and defined by several factors. Being in the habitable zone is not enough for a planet to be habitable, not even to actually have such liquid water. Venus is located in the habitable zone of the Solar System but does not have liquid water because of the conditions of its atmosphere. Jovian planets or gas giants are not considered habitable even if they orbit close enough to their stars as hot Jupiters , due to crushing atmospheric pressures. The actual distances for

9120-564: Is considered a crime in most Islamic nations and is taboo in the few countries where it is legal. Lebanon was the only Arab country to show the film, although in a censored format. The film was officially banned from screenings in the United Arab Emirates ; however, the DVD of the film was permitted to be rented from stores such as Blockbuster Video . On December 8, 2008, the Italian state-owned television channel Rai Due aired

9310-520: Is embodied in the Copernican principle , which states that Earth does not occupy a unique position in the Universe, and the mediocrity principle , which states that there is nothing special about life on Earth. Other authors consider instead that life in the cosmos, or at least multicellular life, may be actually rare. The Rare Earth hypothesis maintains that life on Earth is possible because of

9500-580: Is haunted by a childhood memory of his father showing him a man's body who was tortured and killed for suspected homosexuality. Ennis and Jack meet infrequently for private fishing trips while their respective marriages deteriorate. Lureen abandons the rodeo and goes into business with her father, with Jack working in sales. Alma and Ennis divorce in 1975. Upon hearing about it, Jack drives to Wyoming and tells Ennis that they should live together, but Ennis refuses to move away from his children. Alma takes custody of Alma Jr. and Jenny, and marries Monroe, manager of

9690-439: Is likely devoid of life. However, Venus is still of interest to astrobiologists, as it is a terrestrial planet that was likely similar to Earth in its early stages and developed in a different way. There is a greenhouse effect , the surface is the hottest in the Solar System, sulfuric acid clouds, all surface liquid water is lost, and it has a thick carbon-dioxide atmosphere with huge pressure. Comparing both helps to understand

SECTION 50

#1732783856004

9880-577: Is meant to recruit Okeer, a krogan warlord and radical scientist who has been developing a small army of krogan to weather the Genophage. When Shepard arrives to recruit him, Okeer is working for the Blue Suns mercenary group, but was betrayed by the latter. Though Shepard and crew defeat the Blue Suns leader, it is too late to save Okeer, who leaves Shepard with a tank containing his "legacy", his "perfect krogan". If and when Shepard decides to awaken him,

10070-408: Is much pressure for Tali to excel. In the first game, she is on her Pilgrimage, before handing Shepard incriminating evidence about Saren and joining their crew. In the second game, now Tali'Zorah vas Neema and later Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, where she joins Shepard on a suicide mission to rescue human colonists from the Collectors, and she is a potential romance option for a male Shepard. If she survives

10260-444: Is no guarantee that it is transmitting radio communications in the direction of Earth. The length of time required for a signal to travel across space means that a potential answer may arrive decades or centuries after the initial message. The atmosphere of Earth is rich in nitrogen dioxide as a result of air pollution , which can be detectable. The natural abundance of carbon, which is also relatively reactive, makes it likely to be

10450-657: Is not guaranteed. The Cambrian explosion took place thousands of millions of years after the origin of life, and its causes are not fully known yet. On the other hand, the jump to multicellularity took place several times, which suggests that it could be a case of convergent evolution , and so likely to take place on other planets as well. Palaeontologist Simon Conway Morris considers that convergent evolution would lead to kingdoms similar to our plants and animals, and that many features are likely to develop in alien animals as well, such as bilateral symmetry , limbs , digestive systems and heads with sensory organs . Scientists from

10640-399: Is not just a love, but a loneliness. I think primarily it was deep loneliness. And what I always say about that movie [Brokeback Mountain], which I think maybe over time is more understood, is that this is about two people desperately looking for love. To be loved. And who were probably capable of it. And they just found it with someone of the same sex. And that does not dismiss the fact that it

10830-418: Is saved, she will return in a cameo appearance in Mass Effect 2 and as a full-time squad member in 3 , where she has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and commands an unspecified covert operations unit. She is later bestowed Spectre status by the council. She is a potential romance option for a male Shepard throughout the entire trilogy. Ashley is voiced by Kimberly Brooks . Garrus Vakarian

11020-936: Is set in Wyoming, Brokeback Mountain was filmed almost entirely in the Canadian Rockies in southern Alberta . Lee was given a tour of the locations from the story in Wyoming by Proulx, but chose to shoot in Alberta citing financial reasons. The mountain featured in the film is a composite of Mount Lougheed south of the town of Canmore , Fortress and Moose Mountain in Kananaskis Country . The campsites were filmed at Goat Creek, Upper Kananaskis Lake , Elbow Falls and Canyon Creek , also in Alberta. Other scenes were filmed in Cowley , Fort Macleod , and Calgary . Brokeback Mountain ' s production budget

11210-436: Is smaller and does not fully cover his entire skull due to his age. Early designs for Grunt's armor varied widely, which eventually settled into a polished and sleek look, almost like a "show-room finish" on a brand new car. A confrontation scene in Mass Effect 2 between Grunt and Mordin over the latter's role in strengthening the Genophage was planned but ultimately cut during development. Initially in Mass Effect 2 , Shepard

11400-466: Is that the chemical elements that make up life, such as carbon and water, are ubiquitous in the universe. The third is that the physical laws are universal, which means that the forces that would facilitate or prevent the existence of life would be the same ones as on Earth. According to this argument, made by scientists such as Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking , it would be improbable for life not to exist somewhere else other than Earth. This argument

11590-421: Is that there are natural sources of such signals as well, such as gamma-ray bursts and supernovae, and the difference between a natural signal and an artificial one would be in its specific patterns. Astronomers intend to use artificial intelligence for this, as it can manage large amounts of data and is devoid of biases and preconceptions. Besides, even if there is an advanced extraterrestrial civilization, there

SECTION 60

#1732783856004

11780-447: Is unclear if our biochemistry is the most efficient one that could be generated, or which elements would follow a similar pattern. However, it is likely that, even if cells had a different composition to those from Earth, they would still have a cell membrane . Life on Earth jumped from prokaryotes to eukaryotes and from unicellular organisms to multicellular organisms through evolution . So far no alternative process to achieve such

11970-453: Is up to something nefarious, goes rogue and embarks on a mission to save his friend from Cerberus. Randall is voiced by Jay Anthony Franke . Pathfinder Ryder is the main protagonist of Mass Effect: Andromeda , the fourth mainline installment of the Mass Effect series, and the child of Alec Ryder. Their twin sibling is Sara or Scott Ryder, depending on the player's chosen gender. The player can change their character's first name, but if

12160-464: Is voiced by Freddie Prinze, Jr. in all media. Kahlee Sanders is a protagonist of Mass Effect: Revelation and its sequels, Ascension , Retribution , and Deception Sanders is secretly the daughter of the late Rear Admiral Jon Grissom, the first Alliance hero who led a space exploration task force to travel through the Charon mass relay. She is cited as one of the most important characters in

12350-490: Is voiced by Ash Sroka, also credited as "Liz Sroka". Liara T'Soni is an asari scientist , that joins Shepard's squad in the first game and appears in 2 as a non-player character (available as a temporary squad member in Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker ) and as a full squad member in 3 . She is one of the experts on Prothean history and technology. Liara is a potential romance option for Shepard throughout

12540-733: The Normandy SR-2's artificial intelligence and speaks with an aurally feminine voice. Her name stands for "Enhanced Defense Intelligence", and is visually represented on the Normandy by a holographic blue sphere. For Mass Effect 3 , the developers wanted to give EDI a body that is "sexy, chrome, and robotic", akin to the Maria character, also known as the Maschinenmensch, from Metropolis . EDI's facial and body design went through multiple iterations, which includes an eyeless visage, and partially completed 3-D models which differ from

12730-404: The 63rd Golden Globe Awards , winning Best Motion Picture — Drama , Best Director and Best Screenplay and Best Song . At the 59th British Academy Film Awards , Brokeback Mountain had nine nominations, winning Best Film , Best Direction , Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Gyllenhaal). Brokeback Mountain was subject to controversies; its loss to Crash (2004) for

12920-504: The Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In Wyoming in 1963, cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are hired by Joe Aguirre to herd his sheep through the summer on grazing pastures on Brokeback Mountain. After a night of heavy drinking, Jack makes a pass at Ennis. While initially reluctant, Ennis becomes receptive, and he and Jack have sex in their tent. Despite Ennis telling Jack that it

13110-473: The Normandy SR-2, she is Shepard's second-in-command and Executive Officer, and files mission reports directly to the Illusive Man. Miranda is a potential romance option for the male Shepard in Mass Effect 2 , with the option to continue the romance in Mass Effect 3 . Miranda Lawson is voiced by and modeled after actress Yvonne Strahovski . EDI is an AI entity who first appears in Mass Effect 2 as

13300-778: The Rio Tinto river in Spain. NASA officials soon distanced NASA from the scientists' claims, and Stoker herself backed off from her initial assertions. In November 2011, NASA launched the Mars Science Laboratory that landed the Curiosity rover on Mars. It is designed to assess the past and present habitability on Mars using a variety of scientific instruments. The rover landed on Mars at Gale Crater in August 2012. A group of scientists at Cornell University started

13490-459: The hydrothermal vents found on the ocean floor are known to support many chemosynthetic processes which allow organisms to utilize energy through reduced chemical compounds that fix carbon. In return, these reactions will allow for organisms to live in relatively low oxygenated environments while maintaining enough energy to support themselves. The early Earth environment was reducing and therefore, these carbon fixing compounds were necessary for

13680-489: The "agenda". Gibson made jokes about the film on his Fox News Radio program for months after its release. After the death of Ledger in 2008, Gibson was criticized for mocking the deceased actor, and later apologized. Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh referred to the film as " Bareback Mountain" and "Humpback Mountain". Don Imus referred to the film as "Fudgepack Mountain". Several conservative Christian groups, such as Concerned Women for America (CWA) and Focus on

13870-485: The 15th century, acknowledged the possibility Jesus could have visited extraterrestrial worlds to redeem their inhabitants. Nicholas of Cusa wrote in 1440 that Earth is "a brilliant star" like other celestial objects visible in space; which would appear similar to the Sun , from an exterior perspective, due to a layer of "fiery brightness" in the outer layer of the atmosphere. He theorised all extraterrestrial bodies could be inhabited by men, plants, and animals, including

14060-580: The Academy Award for Best Picture, subsequent censorship, and criticism from conservative media outlets received significant attention. The sexuality of the main characters has been subject to discussion. Brokeback Mountain has also been regarded as a turning point for the advancement of queer cinema into the mainstream. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by

14250-543: The Best Director Academy Award, although the film was not released there. The film was met with mixed responses in some regions, particularly China and Islamic nations of western Asia. According to reports, the film was not shown in theaters in China, though it was freely available in bootleg DVD and VHS . The Chinese government said the audience would have been too small; the foreign media accused

14440-700: The Christmas weekend, and beginning of January 2006, the film expanded into more domestic theaters. On January 20, the film opened in 1,194 theaters, then 1,652 theaters on January 27, and 2,089 theaters on February 3, its widest release. Brokeback Mountain was released in one theater in London on December 30 and received a wider release in the United Kingdom on January 6, 2006. The film was released in France on January 18, to 155 theaters, expanding to 290 by

14630-551: The EDI's appearance in terms of body shape, the split between solid and transparent surfaces, and finer points of her two-tone appearance. After some discussion about how robotic would the extent of her appearance be, the team decided that the body she would come to possess is an infiltration unit, which once had skin over its metal frame and is capable of the same facial effects as a living human being to avoid being easily spotted. Mass Effect 2 establishes that EDI's highly advanced nature

14820-587: The Family , criticized the film for its subject matter. Following the success of Brokeback Mountain , Capote , and Transamerica at the Golden Globes Awards in 2006, Janice Crouse, a CWA member, cited these films as examples of how "the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit", and suggested they were not popular enough to warrant critical acclaim. Film critic Gene Shalit , of The Today Show , described

15010-572: The Reapers, making them the key entity to help protect the species of the Milky Way from being wiped out by the Reapers. Shepard is later named the first human Spectre by the Citadel Council, and given command of the SSV Normandy and its crew to complete their mission. The character's given name, gender, background, and appearance are determined by the player on starting a new game, with both Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 allowing

15200-478: The Solar System at a speed of 50,000 kilometers per hour, if it headed towards the Alpha Centauri system, the closest one to Earth at 4.4 light years, it would reach it in 100,000 years. Under current technology such systems can only be studied by telescopes, which have limitations. It is estimated that dark matter has a larger amount of combined matter than stars and gas clouds, but as it plays no role on

15390-478: The Sun. Descartes wrote that there was no means to prove the stars were not inhabited by "intelligent creatures", but their existence was a matter of speculation. When considering the atmospheric composition and ecosystems hosted by extraterrestrial bodies, extraterrestrial life can seem more speculation than reality, due to the harsh conditions and disparate chemical composition of the atmospheres, when compared to

15580-493: The Turians, with the option to continue their relationship from 2 if he was Shepard's paramour. The character is also the star of the third issue of Mass Effect: Homeworlds . Garrus's blue-and-black armour colour scheme was kept consistent throughout the series, as was his visor, although grey was added in the third game to reflect his new rank. Garrus is voiced by Brandon Keener . A famous bounty hunter and mercenary, Wrex

15770-625: The University of Oxford analysed it from the perspective of evolutionary theory and wrote in a study in the International Journal of Astrobiology that aliens may be similar to humans. The planetary context would also have an influence: a planet with higher gravity would have smaller animals, and other types of stars can lead to non-green photosynthesizers . The amount of energy available would also affect biodiversity , as an ecosystem sustained by black smokers or hydrothermal vents would have less energy available than those sustained by

15960-410: The area surrounding these hydrothermal vents which can suggest that some form of life can be supported even in the harshest of environments like the other planets in the solar system. The aspects of these harsh environments that make them ideal for the origin of life on Earth, as well as the possibility of creation of life on other planets, is the chemical reactions forming spontaneously. For example,

16150-568: The atom speeds, either too fast or too slow, make it difficult for specific ones to meet and start chemical reactions. A liquid medium also allows the transport of nutrients and substances required for metabolism. Sufficient quantities of carbon and other elements, along with water, might enable the formation of living organisms on terrestrial planets with a chemical make-up and temperature range similar to that of Earth. Life based on ammonia rather than water has been suggested as an alternative, though this solvent appears less suitable than water. It

16340-453: The best in their age group [...] Jake plays the opposite of Heath and it creates a very good couple in terms of a romantic love story. The chemistry, I think, is great." Once all four leads were cast, Lee remembered being impressed with their maturity despite their young age; "It really scared me how good they were". Principal photography began in the summer of 2004. While the Proulx story

16530-473: The best interests of the galaxy. The character returns in Mass Effect 3 , providing he survives the suicide mission in Mass Effect 2 ; otherwise, another salarian scientist named Padok Wiks fulfills Mordin's role within the narrative. Mordin is encountered on the salarian homeworld, Sur'Kesh, when Shepard is sent there to aid in the evacuation of a fertile female krogan codenamed Eve, the only survivor of his student Maelon's experiments. If Maelon's research data

16720-509: The camera monitor so that he could improve. During the last scenes where Ennis meets Jack's parents, production designer Judy Becker was tasked in finding a suitable house. Lee took inspiration from painters Andrew Wyeth and Vilhelm Hammershoi for the white interior walls. Using two cameras, Lee would capture the actors from both angles, and then change lenses and repeat. "When you edit it together, you can apply certain emphasis to certain reactions, emotions", Lee said. Ossana remembers that

16910-455: The character of Jack Twist as a " sexual predator " who "tracks Ennis down and coaxes him into sporadic trysts." The LGBTQ media group GLAAD said that Shalit's characterization of Twist was like calling Jack in Titanic a sexual predator due to his romantic pursuit of Rose. Shalit's openly gay son, Peter Shalit, wrote an open letter to GLAAD: "He [Gene] may have had an unpopular opinion of

17100-540: The closet where the two shirts hang, Jack's shirt now inside Ennis's. Next to them, tacked to the closet door, is a postcard of Brokeback Mountain. With tears in his eyes, he stares at the mementos, and says, "Jack, I swear..." Credits adapted from TV Guide . Screenwriter Diana Ossana discovered Annie Proulx 's short story, Brokeback Mountain , in October 1997, just days after its publication. She convinced writing partner Larry McMurtry to read it, who thought it

17290-402: The cold temperatures would make such chemistry take place at a very slow pace. Water is rock-solid on the surface, but Titan does have a subsurface water ocean like several other moons. However, it is of such a great depth that it would be very difficult to access it for study. The science that searches and studies life in the universe, both on Earth and elsewhere, is called astrobiology . With

17480-426: The colonizer races from the Milky Way. Scott and Sara Ryder are voiced by Tom Taylorson and Fryda Wolff , respectively. Andromeda was known for its technical issues, particularly for the awkward facial animations of some of its characters; notably, the default face for Sara Ryder received negative reception from fans prior to and after the game's launch, attracting comments such as "It's a perfect representation of

17670-407: The costumes and sets, writing "The Wyoming vistas are flawlessly manicured, Ledger and Gyllenhaal perfectly costumed and coiffed; even Ennis and Alma's sad little apartment over a laundromat seems to have been designed to death." Roger Ebert gave Brokeback Mountain a rating of four out of four stars in his review. Ebert was impressed with the level of attention to the characters, and thought that

17860-521: The creation or maintenance of extraterrestrial life. However, there has been much historical evidence that some of the earliest and most basic forms of life on Earth originated in some extreme environments that seem unlikely to have harbored life at least at one point in Earth's history. Fossil evidence as well as many historical theories backed up by years of research and studies have marked environments like hydrothermal vents or acidic hot springs as some of

18050-511: The default names of Sara or Scott are kept, NPCs will occasionally refer to the character's first name in voiced dialogue. The Ryder siblings are cryogenically frozen and dispatched alongside their father and tens of thousands of other colonists on a 600-year journey to the Andromeda galaxy, departing before the events of Mass Effect 3 . The ark carrying the humans, the Hyperion , arrives at

18240-444: The difficulty for life to appear was not the temperature, but the scarcity of free heavy elements. Planetary systems emerged, and the first organic compounds may have formed in the protoplanetary disk of dust grains that would eventually create rocky planets like Earth. Although Earth was in a molten state after its birth and may have burned any organics that fell in it, it would have been more receptive once it cooled down. Once

18430-521: The elk was shot with anesthetic , violating standard guidelines for animal handling in the film industry. During post-production, Geraldine Peroni and Dylan Tichenor served as film editors, but Peroni died in August 2004 and Tichenor took over. The pair relied on Media Composer for editing, and sound engineer Eugene Gearty used Pro Tools for the creation of sound effects. Buzz Image Group were hired to create 75 visual effect shots, including computer-generated clouds, landscapes and sheep. For

18620-413: The end, the star blows much of its content back into the stellar medium, where it would join clouds that would eventually become new generations of stars and planets. Many of those materials are the raw components of life on Earth. As this process takes place in all the universe, said materials are ubiquitous in the cosmos and not a rarity from the Solar System. Earth is a planet in the Solar System ,

18810-502: The entire trilogy. Following Shepard's death in Mass Effect 2 , Liara gradually became emotionally hardened, and began working as an information broker, eventually leading to the events of Lair of the Shadow Broker which conclude with her becoming the new Shadow Broker. Liara is voiced by Ali Hillis . Miranda Lawson is an officer of the pro-human group Cerberus, first appearing in Mass Effect Galaxy and then serving as

19000-547: The film a positive review, praising the faithful screenplay. He adds, "There's neither coyness nor self-importance in Brokeback Mountain —just close, compassionate observation, deeply committed performances, a bone-deep feeling for hardscrabble Western lives. Few films have captured so acutely the desolation of frustrated, repressed passion." Writing for The Guardian , Peter Bradshaw praised Ledger and Gyllenhaal for their complementary performances. Bradshaw thought

19190-452: The film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 252 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "A beautifully epic Western, Brokeback Mountain ' s love story is imbued with heartbreaking universality, helped by moving performances by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal." On Metacritic , the film has a rating of 87/100 based on 41 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". David Ansen of Newsweek gave

19380-475: The film made as an independent producer. However, this did not work out, and before Lee would take a break after finishing Hulk , he contacted Schamus about Brokeback Mountain . Schamus thought Brokeback Mountain embraces the American West without being a traditional Western, and told Lee that he should consider directing it. Lee said, "Towards the end [of the script] ... I got tears in my eyes". He

19570-412: The film studio thought he was not masculine enough. Regardless, Kaufman sent the script to Ledger, who thought it was "beautiful" and put himself forward. Gyllenhaal reacted to the script positively and signed on for the role; he also did not want to miss the opportunity to work with Lee and friend Ledger. Lee met with Mark Wahlberg for a role in the film, but Wahlberg declined as he was "creeped out" by

19760-417: The film was "extremely moving, tragic even, and sensitive towards the feelings of the simple wives who attempt to understand their troubled husbands." Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post was equally positive, opining that the two lead actors' performances were unforgettable. In particular, she thought Ledger was impressive in his portrayal of a reserved and emotionally affected Ennis. Hornaday also praised

19950-544: The film was as observant as the work by Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman . Writing for The Sydney Morning Herald , Sandra Hall praised the screenplay and called Ledger and Gyllenhaal "finely tuned". Noting that it is a slow film, Hall thought the filmmakers had adapted Proulx's story without missing any nuances. USA Today ' s Mike Clark observed that Brokeback Mountain was directed and photographed with restraint, and praised its old-fashioned quality, and "unassuming but people-oriented" nature. The film also received

20140-515: The film's release in French and Italian, it was titled Le Secret de Brokeback Mountain and I segreti di Brokeback Mountain ( The Secret(s) of Brokeback Mountain ), respectively. In Canadian French , the title is Souvenirs de Brokeback Mountain ( Memories of Brokeback Mountain ). The film received two Spanish titles: Brokeback Mountain: En terreno vedado ( In a forbidden terrain ) for its release in Spain and Secreto en la Montaña ( Secret in

20330-402: The film's theatrical poster, Schamus took inspiration from James Cameron 's Titanic , which depicts two star-crossed lovers. Gustavo Santaolalla scored the film's soundtrack, which consists of 17 tracks as well as songs from Bob Dylan and Roger Miller . The album was released on October 25, 2005. Based on the story and one conversation with the director, Santaolalla was able to score

20520-494: The film, hoping to cast Matt Damon and Joaquin Phoenix as Ennis and Jack, respectively. He also considered Leonardo DiCaprio , Brad Pitt and Ryan Phillippe . Josh Hartnett was originally attached to the film but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with The Black Dahlia . Damon, who previously worked with Van Sant on Good Will Hunting , told the director, "Gus, I did a gay movie ( The Talented Mr. Ripley ), then

20710-401: The filmmakers for hiding content about the film in advertising and in public events, such as press conferences and award ceremonies. New York Daily News writer Wayman Wong, Dave Cullen and Daniel Mendelsohn argued that the director, cast, and publicists avoided using the word gay to describe the story, and noted that the film's trailer did not show a kiss between the two men but showed

20900-641: The fireplaces, cook food and go fishing on the creek. The production was not without commotion; the cast suffered several injuries during filming. Williams sprained her knee in the early days of filming, therefore, her character's movements were altered to be either sitting or standing most of the time. Ledger also injured his hand when he punched a wall for a scene. During a kissing scene, Ledger almost broke Gyllenhaal's nose. The American Humane raised concerns that animals were treated improperly during filming, alleging that sheep were handled roughly and that an elk appeared to have been "shot on cue." They learned that

21090-403: The first hominids appeared 60 million years ago. Life on other planets may have started, evolved, given birth to extraterrestrial intelligences, and perhaps even faced a planetary extinction event millions or even billions of years ago. The brief times of existence of Earth's species, when considered from a cosmic perspective, may suggest that extraterrestrial life may be equally fleeting under such

21280-466: The first places that life could have originated on Earth. These environments can be considered extreme when compared to the typical ecosystems that the majority of life on Earth now inhabit, as hydrothermal vents are scorching hot due to the magma escaping from the Earth's mantle and meeting the much colder oceanic water. Even in today's world, there can be a diverse population of bacteria found inhabiting

21470-682: The first three months of 2006. During its first week of release in Hong Kong, Brokeback Mountain was ranked first place at the box office, earning more than US$ 473,868 ($ 22,565 per theater). The film opened in Lee's native Taiwan on January 20. The film grossed $ 83 million in North America and $ 95 million internationally, for a worldwide $ 178 million. It is the highest-grossing release for Focus Features. The film has been given different titles in accordance to different languages and regions. For

21660-410: The formation of planets, eventually arriving on young planets early in their formation. In December 2023, astronomers reported the first time discovery, in the plumes of Enceladus , moon of the planet Saturn , of hydrogen cyanide , a possible chemical essential for life as we know it, as well as other organic molecules , some of which are yet to be better identified and understood. According to

21850-455: The giant planets themselves are highly unlikely to have life, there is much hope to find it on moons orbiting these planets. Europa , from the Jovian system, has a subsurface ocean below a thick layer of ice. Ganymede and Callisto also have subsurface oceans, but life is less likely in them because water is sandwiched between layers of solid ice. Europa would have contact between the ocean and

22040-638: The government of censorship . The word "brokeback" ( Chinese : 断背 ; pinyin : duànbèi ) also entered the Chinese lexicon as a slang for homosexuality. The film was dubbed "the gay cowboy movie" by the press, a term that was propelled into the American vernacular. The film was also released in Turkey . In the Middle East, distribution of the film became a political issue. Homosexuality

22230-401: The grocery store where she works. Ennis is invited to Thanksgiving dinner. While alone in the kitchen, Alma confronts Ennis about Jack. The two spar, causing Ennis to storm out and cease contact with Alma. Ennis has a brief romantic relationship with Cassie, a waitress. Jack and Lureen befriend Randall and Lashawn Malone, and it is implied that Jack and Randall have a brief affair. At the end of

22420-404: The habitable zones vary according to the type of star, and even the solar activity of each specific star influences the local habitability. The type of star also defines the time the habitable zone will exist, as its presence and limits will change along with the stars stellar evolution. The Big Bang took place 14 billion years ago, the Solar System was formed 4 and a half billion years ago, and

22610-571: The hierarchy of lifeforms from Earth for simplicity, as it is the only one known to exist. The first basic requirement for life is an environment with non-equilibrium thermodynamics , which means that the thermodynamic equilibrium must be broken by a source of energy. The traditional sources of energy in the cosmos are the stars, such as for life on Earth, which depends on the energy of the sun. However, there are other alternative energy sources, such as volcanoes , plate tectonics , and hydrothermal vents . There are ecosystems on Earth in deep areas of

22800-453: The intimate scenes. The first sex scene between Ennis and Jack took 13 takes to meet Lee's expectation. The director would keep his distance from them during filming, allowing the actors to be free and spontaneous. Lee said, "I don't talk too much [to them] except for technical notes. So they [the intimate scenes] are a lot easier to deal with". Ledger was observant of Lee's directing style, saying, "There's two sides to Ang's direction — there's

22990-423: The krogan recalls Okeer's last words and chooses one of them, "grunt", as his name. While initially hostile towards Shepard, Grunt may be recruited as a squad mate. He comes to respect Shepard's leadership, partly because Shepard faces great battles and has powerful enemies. If Grunt completes his rite of passage on Tuchanka, he declares Shepard his battlemaster. If the player imports a save game where Grunt survives

23180-405: The last scenes were emotional for Ledger and personally affected him. The actors who played Jack's parents, Roberta Maxwell and Peter McRobbie , said Ledger was very quiet and gave a "powerful performance". ...in the old-school way, people really used to spend their time together. They became a family. And that's what Ang created on the movie. It's why we are all still close — not just bonded by

23370-440: The life-abundant Earth. However, there are many extreme and chemically harsh ecosystems on Earth that do support forms of life and are often hypothesized to be the origin of life on Earth. Hydrothermal vents , acidic hot springs, and volcanic lakes are examples of life forming under difficult circumstances, provide parallels to the extreme environments on other planets and support the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Since

23560-543: The medium. To create DNA , RNA , or a close analog, such an element should be able to bind its atoms with many others, creating complex and stable molecules. It should be able to create at least three covalent bonds: two for making long strings and at least a third to add new links and allow for diverse information. Only nine elements meet this requirement: boron , nitrogen , phosphorus , arsenic , antimony (three bonds), carbon , silicon , germanium and tin (four bonds). As for abundance, carbon, nitrogen, and silicon are

23750-478: The mid-20th century, active research has taken place to look for signs of extraterrestrial life, encompassing searches for current and historic extraterrestrial life, and a narrower search for extraterrestrial intelligent life . Depending on the category of search, methods range from analysis of telescope and specimen data to radios used to detect and transmit communications. The concept of extraterrestrial life, and particularly extraterrestrial intelligence, has had

23940-572: The most abundant ones in the universe, far more than the others. On Earth's crust the most abundant of those elements is silicon, in the Hydrosphere it is carbon and in the atmosphere, it is carbon and nitrogen. Silicon, however, has disadvantages over carbon. The molecules formed with silicon atoms are less stable, and more vulnerable to acids, oxygen, and light. An ecosystem of silicon-based lifeforms would require very low temperatures, high atmospheric pressure , an atmosphere devoid of oxygen, and

24130-527: The mountain ) for its release in Latin America . In Hungarian , the title was Túl a barátságon ( Beyond friendship ). I think they are genuinely happy to see a Chinese director win an Academy Award with good artistic value. I think that pride is genuine, so I would not think that's hypocritical at all [...] I don't know how to describe it, it's just something else. So what can I say? —Ang Lee, responding to being celebrated in China for winning

24320-401: The mountain, refuses to hire him. Jack moves to Texas , where he meets rodeo rider Lureen Newsome, the daughter of a wealthy businessman; they marry and have a son. After four years apart, Jack visits Ennis. Upon meeting, they kiss passionately, which a stunned Alma inadvertently witnesses. At a motel room, Jack wants them to create a life together, but Ennis refuses to abandon his family and

24510-492: The music before filming began. He said, "I mean if you are connected to the story and to the director, it makes a lot of sense because somehow you know, the music then becomes a part of the fabric of that film from the very beginning." He also used a real orchestra and played his own guitar. The film received a limited release in the United States on December 9, 2005, and grossed $ 547,425 in its first weekend. Over

24700-504: The native planet that may not be caused by natural causes. There are three main types of techno-signatures considered: interstellar communications , effects on the atmosphere, and planetary-sized structures such as Dyson spheres . Organizations such as the SETI Institute search the cosmos for potential forms of communication. They started with radio waves , and now search for laser pulses as well. The challenge for this search

24890-418: The ocean that do not receive sunlight, and take energy from black smokers instead. Magnetic fields and radioactivity have also been proposed as sources of energy, although they would be less efficient ones. Life on Earth requires water in a liquid state as a solvent in which biochemical reactions take place. It is highly unlikely that an abiogenesis process can start within a gaseous or solid medium:

25080-430: The option to continue their relationship from 2 if she was Shepard's paramour. Jack is voiced by Courtenay Taylor . Grunt is a tank-bred genetically engineered super-krogan that can be recruited as a squad member. Grunt's design is intended to be youthful but also tough, invoking the look of a linebacker with large shoulder pads and exposed muscular arms. Compared to Wrex who is a much older krogan, Grunt's crest

25270-568: The origin of extraterrestrial life. The Solar System has a wide variety of planets, dwarf planets, and moons, and each one is studied for its potential to host life. Each one has its own specific conditions that may benefit or harm life. So far, the only lifeforms found are those from Earth. No extraterrestrial intelligence other than humans exists or has ever existed within the Solar System. Astrobiologist Mary Voytek points out that it would be unlikely to find large ecosystems, as they would have already been detected by now. The inner Solar System

25460-404: The other character's death. If Kaidan survives, he returns in a cameo in Mass Effect 2 and as a full-time squad member in 3 , where he has been promoted to the rank of Major and commands the 1st Special Operations Biotic Company, a covert operations unit. He is later bestowed Spectre status by the council. He is a potential romance option for a female Shepard throughout the entire trilogy, and for

25650-683: The other hand, Wes Fenlon indicated in his articles written for PC Gamer and Gamesradar that he was disturbed by BioWare's decision to give EDI a sexy robot body, and involving the character in a romance subplot with Joker. Stacey Henley from TheGamer also disapproved of EDI's costume design in Mass Effect 3 , and criticized the sexualization of the character's physical appearance as not only unnecessary, but also uncomfortable as it detracts from her role in Mass Effect 3 ' s team dynamic, as well as her "brilliant" characterization which Henley summarized as "engaging, philosophical, layered". Mordin Solus

25840-468: The others are used in other biological processes. The studies ruled out pollution of the meteorites on Earth, as those components would not be freely available the way they were found in the samples. This discovery suggests that several organic molecules that serve as building blocks of life may be generated within asteroids and comets. In October 2011, scientists reported that cosmic dust contains complex organic compounds ("amorphous organic solids with

26030-415: The outcome, he may return in later sequels and eventually become a leader of the krogan. Wrex is voiced by Steven Barr . Tali'Zorah, initially known by her full name Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, is the first quarian character to appear in the series. She is a squad mate in each of the three games. While she is known as a genius in the field of mechanical engineering. As the daughter of Admiral Rael'Zorah, there

26220-399: The performances of Ledger and Gyllenhaal. It emerged as a commercial success at the box-office, grossing over $ 178 million worldwide against its $ 14 million budget, and won various accolades . At the 78th Academy Awards , Brokeback Mountain was nominated for Best Picture and won for Best Director , Best Adapted Screenplay , and Original Score . It garnered seven nominations at

26410-553: The planetary core ceased to generate a magnetic field, solar winds removed the atmosphere and the planet became vulnerable to solar radiation. Ancient life-forms may still have left fossilised remains, and microbes may still survive deep underground. As mentioned, the gas giants and ice giants are unlikely to contain life. The most distant solar system bodies, found in the Kuiper Belt and outwards, are locked in permanent deep-freeze, but cannot be ruled out completely. Although

26600-598: The player imports a save game where Samara survives the events of Mass Effect 2 , she returns in a small role in Mass Effect 3 where she is encountered by Shepard at an Ardat-Yakshi monastery; confronted by a duty to comply with the Justicar Code by executing her only living child, who is also Ardat-Yakshi like Morinth and forbidden from leaving an asari monastery, she will attempt to commit suicide unless Shepard stops her. Extraterrestrial life Extraterrestrial life , or alien life (colloquially, alien ),

26790-478: The player to import saves from previous games to carry over that version of Shepard. Depending on the choice of gender, Shepard is voiced by either Mark Meer or Jennifer Hale . The default male version's face and body is based on the likeness of fashion model Mark Vanderloo . Jeff Moreau, better known by his nickname "Joker", is the pilot of the Normandy . Joker is a skilled pilot who has osteogenesis imperfecta . His nickname alludes to his tendency to behave as

26980-455: The player's prior decisions, but will ultimately succumb to his wounds from Kai Leng if he plays a role in preventing the assassination of a Citadel councilor, or to Kepral's Syndrome. Thane is voiced by Keythe Farley . Samara is an Asari Justicar , a member of a highly respected and feared ascetic order of mystic warriors. Samara is on a quest to track down her fugitive daughter Morinth, who

27170-560: The pre-production, which is incredibly thorough and private, and then there's the shooting side, when he just doesn't say anything at all." Ledger said that this helped him try harder during takes . Gyllenhaal echoed Ledger's sentiment; "He just totally disconnects from you while you're shooting", but praised Lee's directorial skills. In regard to acting, Ledger was sometimes disrupted by Gyllenhaal's acting style; Gyllenhaal tended to improvise whereas Ledger preferred to be highly prepared. The director allowed Ledger to see his performance on

27360-511: The precise differences that lead to beneficial or harmful conditions for life. And despite the conditions against life on Venus , there are suspicions that microbial life-forms may still survive in high-altitude clouds. Mars is a cold and almost airless desert, inhospitable to life. However, recent studies revealed that water on Mars used to be quite abundant, forming rivers, lakes, and perhaps even oceans. Mars may have been habitable back then, and life on Mars may have been possible. But when

27550-509: The previous game. Jacob Taylor is voiced by Adam Lazarre-White. Chris Thursten from PC Gamer called Jacob "the worst companion" and the culmination of his romance arc "the worst moment in Mass Effect". Randall Ezno is the protagonist of Mass Effect Infiltrator , a third-person shooter tie-in video game to Mass Effect 3 developed for mobile devices. He is a cybernetically modified Cerberus operative who discovers that his employer

27740-410: The prison facility that she is confined in to join the suicide mission against the Collectors, in exchange for files aboard the Normandy about the science facility where Cerberus scientists tortured and abused her. She is a potential romance option for a male Shepard in Mass Effect 2 . Jack reappears in Mass Effect 3 if a save game is imported where she survives the events of the suicide mission, with

27930-456: The probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilisations and the lack of evidence for such civilisations is known as the Fermi paradox . Dennis W. Sciama claimed that life's existence in the universe depends on various fundamental constants. Zhi-Wei Wang and Samuel L. Braunstein suggest that a random universe capable of supporting life is likely to be just barely able to do so, giving

28120-476: The probe to study ocean water. Still, Cassini detected complex organic molecules, salts, evidence of hydrothermal activity, hydrogen, and methane. Titan is the only celestial body in the Solar System besides Earth that has liquid bodies on the surface. It has rivers, lakes, and rain of hydrocarbons, methane, and ethane, and even a cycle similar to Earth's water cycle . This special context encourages speculations about lifeforms with different biochemistry, but

28310-438: The problems of survival of life on other planets. However, he also considered that the conditions found on Mars were incompatible with carbon based life. Even if extraterrestrial life is based on carbon and uses water as a solvent, like Earth life, it may still have a radically different biochemistry . Life is generally considered to be a product of natural selection . It has been proposed that to undergo natural selection

28500-433: The researchers, "these [newly discovered] compounds could potentially support extant microbial communities or drive complex organic synthesis leading to the origin of life ." Although most searches are focused on the biology of extraterrestrial life, an extraterrestrial intelligence capable enough to develop a civilization may be detectable by other means as well. Technology may generate technosignatures , effects on

28690-426: The right conditions on Earth were met, life started by a chemical process known as abiogenesis . Alternatively, life may have formed less frequently, then spread – by meteoroids , for example – between habitable planets in a process called panspermia . During most of its stellar evolution stars combine hydrogen nuclei to make helium nuclei by stellar fusion, and the comparatively lighter weight of helium allows

28880-405: The right side of the equation are agreed as speculative and open to substitution: 10,000 = 5 ⋅ 0.5 ⋅ 2 ⋅ 1 ⋅ 0.2 ⋅ 1 ⋅ 10,000 {\displaystyle 10{,}000=5\cdot 0.5\cdot 2\cdot 1\cdot 0.2\cdot 1\cdot 10{,}000} The Drake equation has proved controversial since, although it is written as

29070-422: The rocky surface, which helps the chemical reactions. It may be difficult to dig so deep in order to study those oceans, though. Enceladus , a tiny moon of Saturn with another subsurface ocean, may not need to be dug, as it releases water to space in eruption columns . The space probe Cassini flew inside one of these, but could not make a full study because NASA did not expect this phenomenon and did not equip

29260-469: The role enjoyable. Ledger, who grew up around horses, researched his character's personal traits, and learned to speak in Wyoming and Texas accents. Lee gave Ledger and Gyllenhaal books about cowboys who were gay or shared similar experiences as the characters depicted in Proulx's story. Ledger and Gyllenhaal also went to a ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles and learned to ride horses. Gyllenhaal later said: That what ties these two characters together

29450-443: The roles of Alma and Lureen. Michelle Williams was one of the first to audition for the role of Alma, and Lee thought she was perfect for the part. Anne Hathaway , who was filming The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement at the time, showed up to the audition during her lunch break. She was wearing a ball gown and hairpiece "that was way over the top", but she still felt focused for the audition. At first, Lee did not think she

29640-481: The same samples suggests that a non-biological reaction is a more likely hypothesis. In February 2005 NASA scientists reported they may have found some evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars. The two scientists, Carol Stoker and Larry Lemke of NASA's Ames Research Center , based their claim on methane signatures found in Mars's atmosphere resembling the methane production of some forms of primitive life on Earth, as well as on their own study of primitive life near

29830-407: The screenplay was written by Ossana and Larry McMurtry . The film stars Heath Ledger , Jake Gyllenhaal , Anne Hathaway , and Michelle Williams . Its plot depicts the complex romantic relationship between two American cowboys , Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist , in the American West from 1963 to 1983. Lee became attached to the project in 2001 after previous attempts to adapt Proulx's story into

30020-437: The script. Gyllenhaal admired Ledger and described him as "way beyond his years as a human". Other actors were considered for the leads but Lee said they were too afraid to take on the roles. From the beginning, Ledger wanted to portray Ennis and not Jack. He opined that Ennis was more complex; a masculine and homophobic character. Ledger said, "The lack of words he [Ennis] had to express himself, his inability to love", made

30210-468: The series, and the main heroine of Mass Effect spin-off fiction. She makes her first video game appearance in Mass Effect 3 as a staff member of the Grissom Academy. Commander Shepard is the central protagonist of the original Mass Effect trilogy of video games. On an assignment to investigate a besieged human colony, Shepard is affected by a Prothean artifact that grants them insight on

30400-435: The shirts and silently weeps. Jack's mother enters and sees him holding the two shirts, and allows him to keep them. Later, 19-year-old Alma Jr. arrives at Ennis's trailer to announce her engagement to Kurt, who works in the oil fields. She asks for her father's blessing and invites him to the wedding. Ennis hesitates to come due to upcoming work commitments, then agrees to attend the wedding. Once Alma Jr. leaves, Ennis goes to

30590-399: The star to release the extra energy. The process continues until the star uses all of its available fuel, with the speed of consumption being related to the size of the star. During its last stages, stars start combining helium nuclei to form carbon nuclei. The higher-sized stars can further combine carbon nuclei to create oxygen and silicon, oxygen into neon and sulfur, and so on until iron. In

30780-482: The stellar evolution of stars and planets, it is usually not taken into account by astrobiology. There is an area around a star, the circumstellar habitable zone or "Goldilocks zone", where water may be at the right temperature to exist in liquid form at a planetary surface. This area is neither too close to the star, where water would become steam, nor too far away, where water would be frozen as ice. However, although useful as an approximation, planetary habitability

30970-408: The story and content before talking about the visuals. Therefore, he selected Rodrigo Prieto for the job; saying, "I think he's versatile, and I wanted somebody who could shoot quickly [...] he was able to give me the tranquil, almost passive look I wanted for Brokeback. I believe a talent's a talent". Ledger and Gyllenhaal, who were friends before Brokeback Mountain , were mostly unconcerned with

31160-508: The study of Earth's life, the only known form of life, astrobiology seeks to study how life starts and evolves and the requirements for its continuous existence. This helps to determine what to look for when searching for life in other celestial bodies. This is a complex area of study, and uses the combined perspectives of several scientific disciplines, such as astronomy , biology , chemistry , geology , oceanography , and atmospheric sciences . The scientific search for extraterrestrial life

31350-446: The success of the film, but bonded by the experience. It was an intimate project in that way. We'd wake up and make breakfast for each other, and hang out. —Gyllenhaal on the film's experience Executive producer Michael Hausman rented Airstream trailers for the cast and crew to sleep in. He created an on-set atmosphere which mimicked a summer camp, where people could bond and feel close. Hausman recalled that they would sit around

31540-409: The suicide mission in 2 , he appears in Mass Effect 3 in a small role. Grunt is voiced by Steve Blum . Grunt showing Shepard his strength in Mass Effect 2 is considered to be one of the original trilogy's most iconic moments by Kotaku's Gergo Vas. PC Gamer staff noted that while there is not much to the character "beyond punching things and talking about fighting", dealing with Grunt could be

31730-406: The suicide mission in Mass Effect 2 . At the time of his recruitment, Thane states he has nothing left to lose, and he hopes to right many wrongs he has found in the galaxy before his death. Thane Krios is a possible romantic interest for a female Shepard. Thane returns in Mass Effect 3 provided he survived the suicide mission in Mass Effect 2 . Thane may play a role in the narrative depending on

31920-455: The suicide mission, in Mass Effect 3 he returns as a supporting character who has defected from Cerberus, and attempts to protect other Cerberus defectors from reprisals by their former employer. The iconic look of all Cerberus clothing in the series is derived from the designs for Jacob's armor and clothing; some involved fully armored looks, while others had only cloth, or a mix of cloth and armor. For airless or toxic environments, Jacob wears

32110-436: The suicide mission, she will appear as a squad member in Mass Effect 3 , with the option to continue their relationship from 2 if she was Shepard's paramour. If Shepard sides with the geth over the quarians during the latter's attempt to retake Rannoch, she will commit suicide after witnessing the annihilation of the quarian Migrant Fleet. If Shepard is able to broker peace between the quarians and geth, she will survive. Tali

32300-539: The survival and possible origin of life on Earth . With the little amount of information that scientists have found regarding the atmosphere on other planets in the Milky Way galaxy and beyond, the atmospheres are most likely reducing or with very low oxygen levels, especially when compared with Earth's atmosphere. If there were the necessary elements and ions on these planets, the same carbon fixing, reduced chemical compounds occurring around hydrothermal vents could also occur on these planets' surfaces and possibly result in

32490-479: The synthesis of all organic and synthetic life at the conclusion of the game, EDI will be present in the ending cutscene alongside Joker. EDI is voiced by Tricia Helfer . PC Gamer praised EDI's characterization, noting that she "might have had some fine dialogue and ruminations on what it means to be human". EDI is also included in PC Gamer's definitive list of the best squad mates around, citing her utility as

32680-462: The synthetic entity and eventually seizes control of its platform in the process, allowing her to accompany Shepard as a squad mate on missions. Now possessing a physical body with humanlike characteristics, her relationship with Joker develops further, and, if Shepard supports the idea, the two may start a romantic relationship. She often asks Shepard about the context and nature of human behaviour so that she can better understand human psychology and, in

32870-636: The tendency of technologically advanced human societies to enslave or destroy less advanced societies – argue it may be dangerous to actively draw attention to Earth. Initially, after the Big Bang the universe was too hot to allow life. 15 million years later , it cooled to temperate levels, but the elements that make up living things did not exist yet. The only freely available elements at that point were hydrogen and helium . Carbon and oxygen (and later, water ) would not appear until 50 million years later, created through stellar fusion. At that point,

33060-462: The third week. In its first week of release, Brokeback Mountain was in third place at the French box office. In Italy, the film grossed more than € 890,000 in three days and was the fourth highest-grossing film in its first week. The film was released in Australia on January 26, where it ranked fourth place at the weekend box office. Brokeback Mountain was released in many other countries during

33250-667: The top-selling DVD on Amazon.com for several days running. The DVD in Europe was released in the UK on April 24, 2006. This was followed by France in July, and Poland in September, a considerable time after the theater release in both countries. Brokeback Mountain was re-released in a collector's edition on January 23, 2007. On the same day, it was also released in HD DVD format. The film

33440-482: The uncanny valley" and a "robot-like model that had dead eyes syndrome" prior to a patch fix released in early April 2017. Kaidan Alenko is a human Alliance Navy officer with biotic powers, who serves aboard the SSV Normandy as Staff Lieutenant and head of the ship's Marine detail. In a late-game choice on the planet Virmire, the player must choose whether to save Ashley Williams or Kaidan; this choice leads to

33630-608: The universe. The science of extraterrestrial life is known as astrobiology . Speculation about the possibility of inhabited worlds beyond Earth dates back to antiquity. Early Christian writers discussed the idea of a "plurality of worlds" as proposed by earlier thinkers such as Democritus ; Augustine references Epicurus 's idea of innumerable worlds "throughout the boundless immensity of space" in The City of God . Pre-modern writers typically assumed extraterrestrial "worlds" are inhabited by living beings. William Vorilong , in

33820-445: The unusual properties of the meteorite were eventually explained as the result of inorganic processes, the controversy over its discovery laid the groundwork for the development of astrobiology. An experiment on the two Viking Mars landers reported gas emissions from heated Martian soil samples that some scientists argue are consistent with the presence of living microorganisms. Lack of corroborating evidence from other experiments on

34010-602: The wrong drop point, far from the forward command centre of the Andromeda Initiative, the Nexus, and cut off from contact with both it and the other arks. The player-controlled Ryder later succeeds their father as the Hyperion's Pathfinder, and is tasked with leading their crew on the command ship The Tempest , successfully settling the Heleus Cluster, and improving life aboard the Nexus, a galactic hub for

34200-402: Was a "masterpiece". The pair asked Proulx if they could adapt it into a film screenplay; although she did not think that the story would work as a film, she agreed. In a 1999 interview with The Missouri Review , Proulx praised their screenplay. Ossana said that convincing a director and production company to make the film was a challenging and nonstop process. Gus Van Sant attempted to make

34390-485: Was a one-time incident, they develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Near the end of their work contract, Ennis and Jack have a brawl that leaves both of them bloodied. Before parting ways, Ennis offhandedly laments that he left one of his shirts on the mountain. Ennis marries his longtime fiancée Alma Beers and they have two daughters: Alma Jr. and Jenny. Jack returns the next summer seeking work, but Aguirre, who observed Jack and Ennis engaging in homosexual activity on

34580-518: Was a risky project. Pedro Almodóvar was initially offered the opportunity to direct, but turned it down, citing concerns about artistic freedom. At Ossana's request, Schamus showed the story and screenplay to director Ang Lee . Lee decided to make Hulk instead; his experience of Hulk, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon from two years prior left him exhausted. In 2003, he considered retirement but Brokeback Mountain came back to his mind and tempted him back into filmmaking. Lee attempted to get

34770-420: Was an obvious choice, but he was convinced with her audition and cast her as Lureen. Hathaway lied to Lee about her knowledge of horse riding in order to be cast. She took lessons for two months to prepare. Lee was happy with Ledger and Gyllenhaal portraying Ennis and Jack, respectively, because he thought their "young innocence" will help carry a love story until the end. Lee added, "I think these two are among

34960-574: Was approximately US$ 14 million. Initially, Alberta's environmental department prohibited the crew from bringing domestic sheep into the Rockies, due to a risk of disease harming the local wildlife. The authorities eventually gave permission for them to shoot on one mountain, as long as they transported the domestic sheep in and out, every day. A biologist was hired to supervise this process. Lee prefers working with cinematographers who are open minded, eager to learn, and able to show an interest in

35150-417: Was habitable. It is unclear if life and intelligent life are ubiquitous in the cosmos or rare. The hypothesis of ubiquitous extraterrestrial life relies on three main ideas. The first one, the size of the universe allows for plenty of planets to have a similar habitability to Earth, and the age of the universe gives enough time for a long process analog to the history of Earth to happen there. The second

35340-507: Was particularly drawn to the authentic rural American life and repression depicted in the story. Bill Pohlad of River Road Entertainment, who had a two-year partnership with Focus Features, helped finance the film. Casting director Avy Kaufman said Lee was very decisive about the actors for the lead roles. In 2003, screenwriters Ossana and McMurty suggested Heath Ledger (after being impressed by his performance in Monster's Ball ), but

35530-422: Was released on Blu-ray in the UK on August 13, 2007, and in the U.S. on March 10, 2009. The Blu-ray contains special features including interviews with the screenwriters, director and a short documentary about composer Gustavo Santaolalla. Kino Lorber released the film on Ultra HD Blu-ray on July 16, 2024. Brokeback Mountain was released to critical acclaim. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes ,

35720-399: Was reported. Scientists search for biosignatures within the Solar System by studying planetary surfaces and examining meteorites . Some claim to have identified evidence that microbial life has existed on Mars. In 1996, a controversial report stated that structures resembling nanobacteria were discovered in a meteorite, ALH84001 , formed of rock ejected from Mars . Although all

35910-486: Was saved in the previous game, he uses it to aid in Eve's treatment and produce a viable cure for the Genophage. Mordin is voiced by Michael Beattie in Mass Effect 2 , and by William Salyers in Mass Effect 3 . Jack, also known as Jacqueline Nought or "Subject Zero", is the powerful product of unethical Cerberus experiments to enhance human biotic ability, which molded her antisocial temperament. Shepard may recruit Jack from

36100-655: Was the first major film to be released simultaneously on both DVD and digital download via the Internet. It was released in the United States on April 4, 2006. More than 1 million copies of the DVD were sold in the first week, and it was the third-biggest seller of the week, behind Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and King Kong . Although the ranking fluctuated daily, by late March and early April 2006, Brokeback Mountain had been

#3996