Pvt. Vasquez, the fictional Latina member of the U.S. Colonial Marine Corps in the 1986 hit sci-fi movie "Aliens," is getting a backstory in a new novel.
The big picture: The November U.S. release of "Aliens: Vasquez" by Violet Castro comes as writers and artists of color increasingly reimagine minor characters of color from popular sci-fi films.
Why it matters: The extensive report is a grim indicator of the effects of rampant agriculture, fishing, hunting, logging, invasive species and pollution on nature over roughly 50 years.
Heavy rains in southeastern Australia left thousands of homes without power and emergency services conducted multiple flood-related rescues across the region on Thursday.
Threat level: Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecaster Jonathan How warned more heavy rainfall that could lead to "life-threatening flash-flooding" was "on the way" as evacuations orders and warnings were issued across Victoria, New South Wales and the island state of Tasmania.
Businessman Dennis Tito, the first-ever space tourist, has scored another trip to space — and this time he's going around the Moon with SpaceX.
Why it matters: SpaceX's ultimate goal is to make life multi-planetary by bringing about a future where humans are living on Mars and possibly deeper into the solar system.
