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How the media helped turn 'Fantastic 4' into a fantastic flop
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DF-14999r Reed Richards (Miles Teller) and Sue Storm (Kate Mara) harness their daunting new abilities to save Earth from a former friend turned enemy. Photo credit: Alan Markfield - photo by Chandra Johnson
Chandra Johnson
Deseret News
Published: Aug 16, 2015, 4:29 PM
The "Fantastic 4" reboot had a rough debut at the weekend box office, netting just $26.2 million domestically.

What turned "Fantastic 4" into a fantastic flop? A storm of unflattering media coverage, for one thing. While early reviews cited the film's "go nowhere" plot or pointed out flaws in the characters dating back to the 1960s comic, the fact that the film was panned by viewers on Twitter didn't help.

", you destroyed one of the best comic book series in just one movie. I can't believe I wasted my money on this garbage," one Twitter user wrote.

The film quickly earned a score of just 9 percent on movie fan site Rotten Tomatoes and the franchise's problems ballooned from there.

The film's own director, Josh Trank, tweeted his displeasure with the final product, tweeting that "A year ago I had a fantastic version of this. And it would've received great reviews. You'll probably never see it. That's reality though."

To make matters worse, an unfavorable profile of "Fantastic" star Miles Teller in Esquire magazine may've taken some of the wind out of the pre-movie excitement, especially after Teller and his co-stars, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jaime Bell, all took to Twitter to deride the article.

Yet with all the bad publicity surrounding it, even good publicity couldn't fix the film's core problem, as the New York Times' A.O. Scott said in his review plain, old bad filmmaking.

"'Fantastic 4' has nothing," Scott wrote. "(Kate Mara's) character also has the power to make other things vanish. I would say she should have exercised it on this movie, but in a week or two that should take care of itself."
Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
Herb Scribner
Deseret News
Published: Aug 13, 2018, 1:39 PM
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.