Influences On Science Fiction and Popular Culture
The cosmic egg concept has caught the imagination of many science fiction and fantasy writers, including the creators of the Marvel Comics character Galactus. Galactus, with the help of the Phoenix Force managed to survive the previous Big Crunch and, preserved in the cosmic egg, emerged as a being of immense power in the present universe. The cosmic egg concept was also used by DC Comics and Marvel comics in their Avengers/JLA crossover, in which it was used to capture their mutual enemy Krona.
In the 1970 science fiction novel Tau Zero by Poul Anderson, a starship forced to travel very close to the speed of light by an engine malfunction survives traversing our universe collapsing via a big crunch into a cosmic egg and re-exploding in a new big bang. The crew of the starship finds a planet similar to Earth in the new universe, upon which they land and establish a colony.
In 1972 science fiction novel The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov, baby universes, in their cosmic egg stage, are used as alternative fuel.
In the popular Pokémon series of games, the Alpha Pokémon Arceus is said to have been born from a Cosmic Egg in a churning turmoil of chaos; proceeding to shape the universe with its 1000 arms.
The Australian Rock band Wolfmother released their album Cosmic Egg on October 23, 2009.
In Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, there are several Cosmic Eggs which must be collected; depending on which path the player chooses, they will either be used to remake the Earth into a world of Law or Chaos, or detonated in order to prevent the Schwarzwelt from consuming the planet.
Read more about this topic: World Egg
Famous quotes containing the words influences, science, fiction, popular and/or culture:
“However diligent she may be, however dedicated, no mother can escape the larger influences of culture, biology, fate . . . until we can actually live in a society where mothers and children genuinely matter, ours is an essentially powerless responsibility. Mothers carry out most of the work orders, but most of the rules governing our lives are shaped by outside influences.”
—Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)
“It is impossible to dissociate language from science or science from language, because every natural science always involves three things: the sequence of phenomena on which the science is based; the abstract concepts which call these phenomena to mind; and the words in which the concepts are expressed. To call forth a concept, a word is needed; to portray a phenomenon, a concept is needed. All three mirror one and the same reality.”
—Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794)
“The obvious parallels between Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz have frequently been noted: in both there is the orphan hero who is raised on a farm by an aunt and uncle and yearns to escape to adventure. Obi-wan Kenobi resembles the Wizard; the loyal, plucky little robot R2D2 is Toto; C3PO is the Tin Man; and Chewbacca is the Cowardly Lion. Darth Vader replaces the Wicked Witch: this is a patriarchy rather than a matriarchy.”
—Andrew Gordon, U.S. educator, critic. “The Inescapable Family in American Science Fiction and Fantasy Films,” Journal of Popular Film and Television (Summer 1992)
“Both gossip and joking are intrinsically valuable activities. Both are essentially social activities that strengthen interpersonal bonds—we do not tell jokes and gossip to ourselves. As popular activities that evade social restrictions, they often refer to topics that are inaccessible to serious public discussion. Gossip and joking often appear together: when we gossip we usually tell jokes and when we are joking we often gossip as well.”
—Aaron Ben-Ze’Ev, Israeli philosopher. “The Vindication of Gossip,” Good Gossip, University Press of Kansas (1994)
“Unthinking people will often try to teach you how to do the things which you can do better than you can be taught to do them. If you are sure of all this, you can start to add to your value as a mother by learning the things that can be taught, for the best of our civilization and culture offers much that is of value, if you can take it without loss of what comes to you naturally.”
—D.W. Winnicott (20th century)