We don’t often veer off the path of entertainment-related content here at Geeks of Doom, but every now and again you see something that boggles the mind and must be shared with the masses.

Today comes a new infographic that basically proves that the odds of we as human beings existing is pretty much zero. Author Ali Binazir put together the numbers—odds of our many ancestors keeping the line going, of our parents meeting, of the sperm that would become us infusing itself with one of our mother’s eggs—and the digits that resulted are astronomical in size. Will Hunting would weep at the brain-melting size of these numbers [...]

I can say in all honesty and with sincerity that the greatest man who ever lived has passed away — Arch West, creator of Doritos, at the age of 97.

West, a former Frito-Lay executive, passed away in Dallas on September 20, 2011, and will be buried with the chips he created. During a graveside service set for October 1, West’s family will be throwing the Doritos onto the grave before the dirt is put in [...]

20th Century Fox has tapped into the works of the great science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov twice before — Fantastic Voyage (1966) and I, Robot (2004). Hoping that the third time will be the charm the studio is turning the author’s 1954 novel The Caves of Steel into a major motion picture and have already hired newcomers Henry Hobson and John Scott 3 to respectively direct and write the film [...]

So, by the way, apparently a school bus-sized now-dead satellite that’s been orbiting the Earth for 20 years is about to fall from the sky this weekend and plummet into the United States.

According to NASA, the 6 1/2-ton Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite should have fallen to Earth this afternoon, but it’s traveling slower than originally thought. Therefore, those of us here in the United States can expect to be hit with debris some time tomorrow [...]

Over three decades ago, George Lucas gave Star Wars to the world, and in that movie there was a planet called Tatooine that had two suns, which of course was just absurd and ridiculous science fiction at the time.

Now, just in time for the release of the movies on Blu–ray, NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered the first real–life circumbinary planet, which means it orbits two stars.

You can read more below, as well as check out a video about the discovery.

The planet, being called Kepler–16b, was found 200 light–years from Earth in the Kepler–16 system. And though it does have two suns, that’s about where the similarities to Tatooine end. The planet is cold and gaseous and about the size of Saturn, with its stars about 60% and 20% the size of our own sun, respectively. The planet orbits its two suns every 229 days, and it’s not thought that any life would be found there…though it’s not completely out of the question—because the two suns are cooler than our own sun, water could possibly exist. [...]

A video was recorded by the International Space Station as it orbits our planet, giving us a fast–travel flyover view of the world we live in.

The video is absolutely stunning with lights and water and clouds bursting with electric charges like a natural lightning fireworks display. It’s so incredible to see, in fact, that it’s hard to believe it’s even real. What has Roland Emmerich been up to lately? Anyone? Bueller?

You too can go on this quick–yet–powerful space adventure by checking out the video below now! [...]

Area 51
An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base
Hardcover | Kindle
Written by Annie Jacobsen
Little, Brown and Company
Release date: May 17, 2011

Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base is an interesting read, as it provides an abundant history of the invention of nuclear weapons and spy planes, most of which took place at a military base that technically never existed: Area 51 in Nevada.

Annie Jacobsen provides fascinating insight and thorough history into the motives of the world’s most powerful men before, during and after the Cold War, that ends in the present day by explaining how unmanned drones save the lives of our many service members in the Middle East and, ultimately, every one of us back home on relatively safe ground.

Okay, so now we know the truth: The United States government does things we don’t know about in places that don’t officially exist. Revelation! Not so much. I’m sure by 2011, most Americans are aware that our government engages in all manner of secret shenanigans in the name of national security. And that sits just fine with me; I don’t have a “need-to-know” about exactly how the CIA, the U.S. Armed Forces, and all the President’s men (and women, but, let’s face it, mostly men) keep one step (and hopefully more) ahead of anyone who may wish to do us harm any more than I have a need-to-know about which fabric softener my favorite rock star uses. But way back in 1951 when Area 51 was created, though certainly not the first top secret government playground, the public had unlimited trust and faith that their leaders always told them the truth. Thanks to Watergate, of course, now we know different [...]

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, it would appear that we’re ALL actually aliens…and not just from the perspective of other lifeforms in the universe.

Scientists have discovered two of the four nucleobases—which are essential in building DNA—in meteorites found in Antarctica. The two nucleobases discovered, adenine and guanine, suggest that the basic building blocks for life could be present throughout the universe, and that meteorites that hit Earth gatrillions (it’s a real number…don’t look it up) of years ago could have acted as seeds, planting what would eventually become life on our planet.

This would also mean that if it did happened here, it could have happened many other places as well.

This isn’t the first time something like this has been discovered, either, though it is one of the best cases. In most other instances nucleobases like this were discovered in meteorites, it was too hard to distinguish whether or not they came with the rock or if some kind of lifeform had later come into contact with it, leaving the DNA. [...]

In BioShock, Andrew Ryan had a dream: “No Gods or Kings. Only Man.” And from this dream, the underwater city of Rapture was born. A place where people could escape the grasps of government and social guidelines. A place where people could become whoever it is they most wanted to be. You see, in Rapture, a thing called “plasmids” exist, and these plasmids can rewrite your genetic code to give you abilities beyond your wildest dreams. It all sounded too good to be true, and, unfortunately, it ultimately was.

But that’s just science fiction. We live in reality, of course.

Researchers at Cambridge University have successfully taken a nematode worm, and expanded its genetic code. In a living organism, there is 20 amino acids which are assembled in various combinations to make thousands and thousands of proteins. These protein molecules are required to sustain an organism’s life. Sebastian Greiss and Jason Chin took this nematode worm, and redesigned its genetic code to include a 21st amino acid, which is found nowhere else in nature. [...]

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s historic space flight in the Vostok 1 spacecraft, which made the Soviet cosmonaut the first human in space. During a 108-minute flight on April 12, 1961, Gagarin was the first human to escape Earth’s gravity and achieve orbit.

Each year, this milestone is celebrated around the globe with Yuri’s Night, which this year includes 500 parties in 72 countries on 6 continents. There’s various types of parties — some are free, others are ticketed — which can range from intimate gatherings to galas with over 10,000 attendees, with several Observatories hosting events, as well as one at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Visit the Yuri’s Night Events List page to find a party in your area [...]

Space Shuttle Discovery is finishing up its final mission, a 13-day visit to the International Space Station. The ship will make its final landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday after which it will be retired. For those of us who have grown up with Discovery, it’s a little sad to see it retire.

Each morning, a special song usually picked by their families awakens the astronauts on board. For this last mission NASA decided to hold an online contest to allow fans to pick the songs. Nearly 2.5 million votes were cast between August 20, 2010 and November 1, 2010 Alexander Courage‘s theme song to the original Star Trek television series was the second most popular song of the ones available getting 671,133 votes or 27.2% of the total votes [...]

As the years have flown by, more and more people have come to realize just how good Joss Whedon‘s prematurely canceled sci-fi/western, Firefly, really was. The faithful fanbase has become an army who have supported and fought for the revival of the show without rest, but with the ever-growing fear that their efforts were futile.

Yes, it is true that a lot of time has passed since the show’s cancellation and the dying breath that was the feature film follow-up, Serenity. Yes, it is true that hope dwindles away more and more with every passing day. But all is not lost…not yet!

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Firefly is returning to basic cable for the first time since 2008. The Science Channel has acquired the rights to the one and only season of the show, and will air them complete with some brand new extras to sweeten the pot and get people to watch. What kind of extras, you ask? Well, rock star physicist and host of the Science Channel’s Sci-Fi Science, Dr. Michio Kaku, will wrap up each episode by discussing the “theoretical science behind the show’s sci-fi concepts.” Yes, this insanely cool. [...]

Members of the Expedition 26 crew sent a little holiday message for all of us here on Earth as they orbit over 200 miles above us at the International Space Station. The message was sent by NASA astronauts Commander Scott Kelly and Catherine Coleman, and European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli.

Watch the video here below.

Also, you can send a digital holiday greeting postcard through NASA to the team aboard the ISS.

This video message really makes you realize that it’s all our turf [...]

As many of you know, on April 20th a massive oil well in the Gulf of Mexico ruptured causing an explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, leading to the devastating leakage of millions of gallons of oil on a daily basis. The initial explosion caused the death of eleven workers on the rig, and the oil spill has killed countless animals and other living creatures.

Since this catastrophe has unfolded, experts of all levels and areas have been working desperately to try and figure out a way to not only contain the relentless gushing of oil into the waters, but also a way to clean up the oil that pollutes the water already.

At first, the best idea that they could come up with was to throw a box over the leak and suck up all of the oil…which did not go very well. After that, it was thought that some sort of sponge or absorption device would be the best bet. Now, the LA Times is reporting that the very best option might just lie in the hands of none other than actor Kevin Costner. [...]

In 2011, NASA will launch their Mars Science Laboratory mission along with the mechanical rover, fittingly named Curiosity. The rover will be heading for the surface of Mars, where it will cover as much terrain as possible in another attempt to learn more about the habitat, the possibilities of future colonizations of the planet, and of course, any life that may or may not exist there.

We’ve heard about missions like this before, and sometimes great photographs are sent back, but how could you take Mars exploration to a whole new level? Well, if you’re the director of the biggest movie ever made like Avatar director James Cameron happens to be, then you throw a 3D camera on top of this rover, of course!

Cameron, being as important as he is, was able to get a one-on-on meeting with NASA administrator Charles Bolden. In this meeting Cameron convinced him that a 3D camera, the ability to zoom in and out, and the footage that could come from it would increase people’s interest in the mission while also using the 10-frames per second to produce the best look at the Red Planet we’ve ever seen. [...]