I am not a scientist, but I am a science geek! I have a basic understanding of the scientific world because I am an avid reader. I am a tech-challenged granny, but I understand how nanotechnology can work in the medical field and for environmental survival. I found a series on Netflix that will spin you around like a centrifuge and you will love every single minute of all eight episodes.
3 Body Problem
What do a series of suicides have to do with China’s Cultural Revolution, a secret military project and an alien invasion? Plenty! Based on Cixin Liu’s novel The Three-Body Problem, Netflix’s 3 Body Problem is a brilliant series from Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and stars Jovan Adepo, Liam Cunningham (GOT), Eiza Gonzalez, Jess Hong, Benedict Wong, Marlo Kelly, Alex Sharp, Sea Shimooka, Rosalind Chao, Saamer Usmani, Jonathan Pryce (GOT), and John Bradley (GOT)
Let’s start off with what exactly a three-body problem is. In physics, you have three celestial objects (planets, stars, or suns that are in close proximity to each other) exerting force onto each other…like our moon, earth and sun. In the series, there is an alien world, Trisolaris, where the planet’s inhabitants have to deal with an unstable environment because it has two suns. They have to dehydrate and rehydrate themselves according to the suns’ alignment.
This is hardcore science, but don’t let this series scare you away from watching. It actually makes sense even to those who slept through every science class in high school. Former agent of MI5 and Scotland Yard, Clarence Shi (Benedict Wong) is investigating the mysterious suicides of scientists all over the world. What he and his boss, Thomas Wade (Liam Cunningham) discover that these suicides are connected to a message sent from China during the Cultural Revolution by scientist Ye Wenjie (Rosalind Chao). As a political prisoner, Ye Wenjie is disenchanted with life and even knowing that these aliens are technically advanced…she still invites them to Earth. It will take them four-hundred years to reach us, but they are definitely coming.
But…and here is the catch, thanks to Ye Wenjie’s rich entrepreneur lover, Mike (Jonathan Pryce), the aliens no longer trust the people of earth and have threatened to squash us like bugs. We are in big trouble and Thomas Wade calls in the world’s smartest scientists called the Oxford Five which includes Jin Cheng (Jess Hong), Saul (Jovan Adepo), Auggie (Eiza Gonzalez), Will (Alex Sharp), Jack (John Bradley).
Conclusion
I don’t want to add any spoilers to my review, but there are so many cool scenes where the scientists, via virtual reality gaming, are given the chance to help solve the alien world’s dilemma. These aliens present themselves in human form using Sophons (Sea Shimooka) to interact with or destroy anyone who tries to prevent them from arriving on our planet. There is an old saying in the ghost investigating community: “Be careful when you call out to a spirit. You don’t know who will reply.” I think this fits perfectly in the scientific world as well. We’ve been sending messages out into the universe. It might not be a friendly species that will reply.
You need to watch 3 Body Problem and no excuses. If a tech challenged granny can make sense of all this science stuff, then so can you.
