Hiking

The idea of taking a walk in the countryside for pleasure developed in the 18th-century, and arose because of changing attitudes to the landscape and nature, associated with the Romantic movement. In the earlier times walking generally indicated poverty and was also associated with vagrancy.

Thomas West, an English clergyman, popularized the idea of walking for pleasure in his guide to the Lake District of 1778. In the introduction he wrote that he aimed to encourage the taste of visiting the lakes by furnishing the traveller with a Guide; and for that purpose, the writer has here collected and laid before him, all the select stations and points of view, noticed by those authors who have last made the tour of the lakes, verified by his own repeated observations.

To this end he included various "stations" or viewpoints around the lakes, from which tourists would be encouraged to enjoy the views in terms of their aesthetic qualities. Published in 1778 the book was a major success. Another famous early exponent of walking for pleasure, was the English poet William Wordsworth. 

In 1790 he embarked on an extended tour of France. Switzerland, and Germany, a journey subsequently recorded in his long autobiographical poem The Prelude (1850). His famous poem "Tintern Abbey" was inspired by a visit to the Wye Valley made during a walking tour of Wales in 1798 with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth.

Wordsworth's friend Coleridge was another keen walker and in the autumn of 1799, he and Wordsworth undertook a three weeks tour of the Lake District. John Keats, who belonged to the next generation of Romantic poets began, in June 1818, a walking tour of Scotland, Ireland, and the Lake District with his friend Charles Armitage Brown.

More and more people undertook walking tours through the 19th-century, of which the most famous is probably Robert Louis Stevenson's journey through the Cévennes in France with a donkey, recorded in this "Travels with a Donkey" (1879). Stevenson also published in 1876 his famous essay "Walking Tours". The subgenre of travel writing produced many classics in the subsequent 20th-century.

Bridge of Spies

This film is a 2.015 American historical drama-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screen-play written by Matt Charman and Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. The main characters are Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda. 

Based on the 1.960 U-2 incident during the Cold War, the film tells the story of lawyer James B. Donovan who is entrusted with negotiationg the release of Francis Gary Powers, a pilot whose U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union, in exchange for Rudolf Abel, a captive Soviet KGB spy held under the custody of the United States.

Bridge of Spies was shot under the working title of St. James Place. Principal photography began on September 8,2.014, in Brooklyn, New York City and the production proceededat Babeisberg Studios in Potsdam.

The film was released by Touchstone Pictures on October 16,2.015 in North America and distributed by 20th Century Fox in other territories. The name of the film refers to the Glienicke Bridge, which connects Potsdam with Berlin, where the spy exchange took place.

About the plot, in 1.957 Brooklyn, New York, Rudolf Abel retrieves a secret message from a park bench and reads it just before FBI agents burst into his rented room. He prevents discovery of the message, but other evidence in the room leads to his arrest and prosecution as a Soviet spy.

James B. Donovan, a lawyer who specializes in insurance settlements, is asked by his partners to take on Abel's defense. The United States believe that Abel is a KGB spy, but want him to have a fair trial to reduce the Soviet Union's opportunity to use it for propaganda. Donovan meets with Abel in prison, where the Russian agrees to accept his help.

The Martian

The Martian is a 2.015 American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. The film is based of Andy Weir's 2011 novel "The Martian", which was adapted into a screenplay by Drew Goddard. Damon starts as an astronaut who is mistakenly presumed dead and left behind on Mars, and who then fights to survive.

The film also features Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, and Chiwetel Ejiofor in supporting roles. Producer Simon Kinberg began developing the film after 20th Century Fox optioned the novel in March 2013.

Drew Goddard adapted the novel into a screenplay and was initially attached to direct, but the film did not move forward. Scott replaced Goddard, and with Damon in place as the main character, production was green-lit.

Filming began in November 2.014 and lasted approximately 70 days. Around 20 sets were built on a sound stage in Budapest, Hungary, one of the largest in the world. Wadi Rum in Jordan was also used as a practical backdrop for filming.

The film premiered at the 2.015 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2.015. 20th Century Fox released the film in theaters in the UK on September 30, 2.015, and in the US on October 2, 2.015. The film was released in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D and 4DX. The film has grossed over $430 million worlwide.

Everest (2015)

Everest is a 2.015 British-American disaster drama and adventure thriller film directed by Baltasar Kormákur and written by William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy.  The film opened the 72nd Venice International Film Festival on September 2nd, 2.015, and was released theatrically on September 18th. 

It is based on the real events of the 1.996 Mount Everest disaster, and focuses on the survival attempts of two expedition groups, one led by Rob Hall (Clarke) and the other by Scott Fischer (Gyllenhaal).

The film was first released in IMAX 3D on September, 11th, 2.015, in the UK and in IMAX 3D, RealD 3D, and 2D internationally, and exclusively in IMAX 3D, September, 18th, 2.015, across 545 theaters in the United States and Canada, and along 36 other countries.

It began a U.S. wide release on September, 25th, 2.015, across 3.006 theaters. The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed over 103 million dollars. The plot is about March 1.996, two expeditions arrive in Lukla in preparation for climbing Mount Everest.

Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) is one of three guides for Adventure Consultants whose several clients include Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), an experienced climber, Doug Hansen (John Hawkes), a former mailman pursuing his dream, and Yasuko Namba (Naoco Mori), who had previously climbed six of the Seven Summits and was attenpting to become the oldest woman to summit Everest, they will try to complete this along with many others.

Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the chief guide for Mountain Madness. At Everest Base Camp, the two expeditions meet Helen Wilton (Emily Watson), the base camp manager, who communicates with them all via walkie-talkies while they climb.

Limitless (2011)

Limitless (2011) is an American thriller film directed by Neil Burger and starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, and Robert De Niro. It is based on the novel "The Dark Fields" by Alan Glynn. The Plot is about a struggling author (Bradley Cooper) suffering from writer's block, living in New York, is stressed by an approaching deadline.

His girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish), frustrated with his lack of progress and financial dependence, breaks up with him. Later, Eddie happens to run into Vernon (Johnny Whitworth), the estranged brother of Eddie's ex-wife, Melissa (Anna Friel). Vernon, involved with a pharmaceutical company, gives Eddie a sample of a new "smart drug", NZT-48.

After taking the pill, Eddie finds himself able to learn and analyse at a superhuman rate and recall memories from his distant past, with the only apparent side effect being a change in the color of Eddie's irises while on the drug - his eyes becoming an intense shade of electric blue. Under the influence, he cleans his messy apartment and writes ninety pages of his book.

The next day, the effects having worn off, he seeks out Vernon in an attempt to get more. While Eddie is out running an errand, Vernon is murdered. Eddie returns, calls the police and then discovers Vernon's NZT stash just before they arrive, taking it for himself. After giving a statement at the precinct, Eddie returns home and begins dosing the drug daily.

With help of the amazing effects, Eddie spends a few weeks cleaning up his life - finishing his book, getting fit, and making friends with a group of young jetsetters, who take him on vacation to Europe, where he mingles with the rich. During all this, Eddie tests out his enhanced learning abilities; he becomes a proficient piano player in just three days, as well as becoming fluent in several languages.

Mars, the red planet.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in the Solar System, after Mercury. Named after the Roman god of war, it is often referred to as the "Red Planet" because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth.

The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth, as is the tilt that produces the seasons. Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System.

The smooth Boralis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the planet and may be a giant impact feature. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids, similar to Eureka, a Mars trojan.

Until the first succesful Mars flyby in 1.965 by Mariner 4, many speculated about the presence of liquid water on the planet's surface. This was based on observed periodic variations in light and dark patches, particularly in the polar latitudes, which appeared to be seas and continents; long, dark striations were interpreted by some as irrigation channels for liquid water.

These straight line features were later explained as optical illusions, though geological evidence gathered by unmanned missions suggests that Mars once had large-scale water coverage on its surface at some earlier stage of its life.

In 2.005, radar data revealed the presence of large quantities of water ice at the poles and at mid-latitudes. The Mars rover Spirit sampled chemical compounds containing water molecules in March 2.007. The Phoenix lander directly sampled water ice in shallow Martian soil on July 31, 2.008. Mars is host to seven functioning spacecraft: five in orbit.

2.001 - Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN and Mars Orbiter Mission. And tow on the surface; Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.

Mars was the Roman counterpart of Ares...

The Earth

Earth, also called the world and, less frequently, Gaia and Terra in some works of science fiction, is the third planet from the Sun, the densest planet in the Solar System, the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets, and the only astronomical object known to accommodate life.

The earliest life on Earth arose at least 3,5 billion years ago. Earth's biodiversity has expanded continually except when interrupted by mass extinctions. Although scholars estimate that over 99% of all species of life that ever lived on Earth are extinct, there are still an estimated 10-14 million extant species, of which about 1,2 million have been documented and over 86% have not yet been described. 

Over 7,3 billion humans live on Earth and depend on its biosphere and minerals for their survival. Earth's human population is divided among about two hundred sovereign states which interact through diplomacy, conflict, travel, trade and communication media.

According to evidence from radiometric dating and other sources, Earth was formed about 4, 54 billion years ago. Within its first billion years, life appeared in its oceans and began to affect its atmophere and surface, promoting the proliferation of aerobic as well as anaerobic organisms and causin the formation of the atmophere's ozone layer.

Earth was a personified goddess in Germanic paganism: the Angles were listed by Tacitus as among the devotees of Nerthus, and later Norse mythology included Jöro, a giantess often given as the mother of Thor.