Page 17 - 201003 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - March 2010

March 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 29/03/2010 11:52 AM Page 17 Wake Up and Smell the Science, Hollywood! 17 Wake Up and Smell the Science, Hollywood! by Ian O'Neill Neutrinos? You're going to kill the Earth using... neutrinos?! That was the thought echoing through my brain during the November 2009 screening of Roland Emmerich's disaster orgy, 2012. However, I was in the minority. At the end of that painful 158 minutes, the filled-to-capacity midnight movie screening erupted with applause. What?! Everyone else enjoyed it? Did I miss something? Unfortunately, that's the problem, I didn't miss anything. In my mind, I knew neutrinos couldn't cause the Earth's interior to boil, turning our planet into a sphere of Jello; I knew the much fabled "galactic alignment" and "killer solar flare" doomsday theories are bunk; not only can it entertain and inspire the next Group in 2006 and 2007. I knew the polar shift as depicted by Emmerich generation of scientists, but it provides a "In soliciting these individuals, Morton was completely flawed. Don't get me started on compelling framework in which to explore how claimed that he would use his psychic expertise the tsunamis, Arks and silly plot twists. science fits into our culture at large, and the to provide investment guidance to his After writing a review on the science inevitable ethical/philosophical questions that investment team, and falsely touted his failings of 2012, I received a mixed bag of accompany major breakthroughs in research." - historical success in psychically predicting the comments, but the overriding sentiment was - The Science and Entertainment Exchange various rises and falls of the market," the that I needed to "suspend disbelief" and that I blog. complaint filed in Manhattan federal court said. shouldn't take movies so seriously. There is the requirement for sci-fi The U.S. market regulator's lawsuit said At the American Association for the movies to create fictional worlds, futuristic Morton and his wife Melissa Morton, 42, Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting in technologies and bizarre alien creatures, but diverted investor money, including at least San Diego, at a session chaired by The Science sticking with believable science shouldn't be $240,000 to their own nonprofit religious and Entertainment Exchange director (and just an option. Granted, some disbelief organization, Prophecy Research Institute Discovery News blogger) Jennifer Ouellette, a suspension should be expected at the movies, (PRI). professor from Emory University in Atlanta but it would be nice if The Core was the It said Morton enticed investors through shared his frustration about the science failings exception rather than the rule. a monthly Delphi Associates Newsletter, a web in movies. As one commenter said in reply to my site and public appearances in New York City Prof. Sidney Perkowitz (also a member 2012 review: "Knocking science in science and elsewhere. He also broadcasts on a of the Exchange) suggested that movies should fiction movies is like shooting fish in itty-bitty nationally syndicated radio show with an be allowed just one major suspension of belief barrels with a very big gun. It's fun and can average audience of nearly 3 million listeners, for the sake of the storyline. make a big splash, but isn't very hard." the SEC said. Often movies that contain more than But when the movie is really bad, it It quoted from a July 20, 2006 their fair share of science failings (such as The becomes a really, really small barrel. [] newsletter, which said: "I have called ALL the Core, as singled out by Perkowitz as the worst highs and lows of the market, giving EXACT offender), will be the least memorable movies, Stock Market 'Psychic' DATES for rises and crashes over the last 14 whereas more accurate movies (such as Contact years." and Apollo 13) will often go down in movie Charged With Fraud by Morton is representing himself and history. SEC could not immediately be reached for comment by phone or email at his Hermosa Beach, "Contact has one of the best depictions CNBC / Reuters California, organization Heaven & Earth. of an actual scientist, and a woman to boot, ably Morton hosted "financial survival" played by Jodie Foster. Perkowitz is also a fan workshops at the Mount Shasta Resort in of last year's indie film Sleep Dealer, District 9, California in September 2007, where he told and Moon, and Gattaca. As for the bad: The prospectives investors he could make them Core takes top honors, about drilling to the "piles of money," according to the complaint. Earth's core, in order to detonate a nuclear Morton placed investor's money in shell device that will kick-start the core's rotation. companies Vajra, 27 Investments and Magic And the giant insect aliens in Starship Troopers Eight Ball, controlled by him and his wife. She would collapse under their own weight were was also named as a defendant in the complaint. real insects scaled up to that size." -- The "While Morton promised investors that Science and Entertainment Exchange blog. all of their funds would be used to trade foreign currencies, in fact, he invested only about half Although "bad science" doesn't with foreign currency trading firms," the SEC necessarily translate into a failed movie (for said. example, 2012 pulled in almost $800 million Sean David Morton, a psychic who calls The Mortons are defendants in two worldwide), in my opinion it does miss an himself "America's Prophet," apparently did not pending private civil actions, the SEC said. The opportunity to prove just how exciting real see investigators coming when he touted market regulator is asking the court to order science can be without having to make stuff up. investments. disgorgement of any illgotten gains and fines Movies can be an educational tool, why not The U.S. Securities and Exchange under securities laws. depict science accurately? Commission sued Morton, 51, on Thursday on The case is SEC v Sean David Morton et civil fraud charges, accusing him of al, U.S. District Court for the Southern District "That's the true power of science fiction: fraudulently raising more than $6 million from of New York, No. 101720. [] more than 100 investors for Delphi Investment