Earth

Re "Mars test-drive goes smoothly," Aug. 23 The focus on this ridiculous adventure to Mars while our planet is circling the drain is the height of insanity. Instead of focusing our resources in a last-ditch effort to save our Earth, we are embarked on a fantasy voyage. Maybe the reality of our situation is so awful that our last grasp on our sanity is avoidance. Russell Blinick Encino ALSO: Letters: Exam kudos for L.A. Unified Letters: A worsening political climate Letters: A union's power in Sacramento

New trailers out this week for two 2013 science fiction epics, "After Earth" and "Oblivion," feature different stars (Will Smith and Tom Cruise, respectively) who have one thing in common: a dire prediction for the future of humanity on our dear planet Earth. "After Earth" is the new film from M. Night Shyamalan, who has stepped away from directing his own original scripts with this project, which is credited to writers Stephen Gaghan and Gary Whitta. It stars  Smith as a spacefaring general and his son Jaden Smith playing the general's son, on patrol over the planet Earth 1,000 years after a cataclysmic event that left the planet uninhabited by people.

When producers of the upcoming science fiction movie "After Earth" wanted to create an image of what the planet might look like 1,000 years in the future, location manager Dow Griffith knew just the place. He immediately thought of the mystical redwood forests in Northern California where his parents had taken him on a camping trip as a child. "I wanted to be able to evoke that sense of what the Earth would be like a thousand years after man has left, and I always felt that these enormous trees would say that in one shot," Griffith said in an interview from his Santa Monica home.

"Another Earth" is quietly and movingly out of this world. Director Mike Cahill has woven sci-fi imaginings and quantum physics theories of parallel universes into a provocative meditation on the prospect of rewriting your life history. It is no simple task to spin such abstract notions into smart (versus cheesy) entertainment, but there is such a strong creative voice stirring in Cahill's first feature that it's easy to forgive the shortcomings. The film stars the ethereal young actress Brit Marling, who co-wrote and co-produced with Cahill, and the rock-solid William Mapother (Ethan on "Lost")

Re "Women greener than men?," Opinion, June 13 Women historically have been the nurturers, the caregivers. Of course they would have greater sensitivity to the environment's effect on humans. Will the caveman macho mentality of most men (and many women) finally mature into responsible stewardship of the Earth? My guess is not until the damage humans have done smacks us more directly in the face. That's a sorry legacy to leave to our next generations. Roy Poucher Santa Ana ALSO: Letters: The bishops' contraception battle Letters: Public and private unions -- they're different Letters: Political money that could be put to better use

Re "The Israel factor in November," Opinion, Aug. 12 Dan Schnur ignores the centrality of President Obama's environmental policies to Israel's survival. By advancing alternatives to oil such as wind and other renewables, Obama guts the financial base of Israel's enemies. While Mitt Romney would keep us dependent on fossil fuels, the president is committed to Israel's - and our - energy security. Peter L. Reich Los Angeles ALSO: Letters: It's lion country Letters: Anti-Muslim bias at Disney?

A group of international scientists is sounding a global alarm, warning that population growth, climate change and environmental destruction are pushing Earth toward calamitous - and irreversible - biological changes. In a paper published in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature, 22 researchers from a variety of fields liken the human impact to global events eons ago that caused mass extinctions, permanently altering Earth's biosphere. "Humans are now forcing another such transition, with the potential to transform Earth rapidly and irreversibly into a state unknown in human experience," wrote the authors, who are from the U.S., Europe, Canada and South America.

The Pillars of the Earth infobox 7/23/10 'The Pillars of the Earth' Where: Starz; Encore When: 10 p.m. Friday Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17)

A defunct NASA satellite, whose doomed descent gained worldwide notoriety, fell back to Earth early Saturday — but exactly when or where the fiery plunge took place could forever be a mystery. "We may never know," said Nicholas Johnson, NASA's chief orbital debris scientist. It probably plunged into the Pacific Ocean, perhaps somewhere between Hawaii and the western coast of North America. There have been no reports of discovered pieces or injuries, further suggesting the debris didn't make it to land, he said.

When Giants Walked the Earth A Biography of Led Zeppelin Mick Wall St. Martin's Press: 504 pp., $27.99