If you’ve ever wondered about exploring life on other planets, talk to the hand, that is, Kevin Hand. Kevin, who serves as deputy chief scientist for solar system exploration at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, narrates a new video called Europa: Ocean World, in which he explains why scientists are looking beneath the ocean surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa to answer some of mankind’s most profound questions.


“The search for life beyond Earth begins with understanding the life on our home planet,” he says. “And that story, the story of life on earth, may have begun in our oceans.” Kevin goes on to say that the ocean beneath the icy shell of Europa is perhaps 10 times as deep as the Earth’s ocean and may contain two to three times the volume of all the liquid water on Earth. Despite Europa’s distance from the sun, it has liquid water because it orbits Jupiter, and the tidal energy eventually turns into friction and heat to help maintain the liquid water ocean beneath an icy shell, he says.


“The question of whether or not life exists beyond Earth, the question of whether or not biology works beyond our own planet, is one of humanity’s oldest and yet unanswered questions,” he says. “For the first time in the history of humanity we have the tools and technology and capability to potentially answer this question and we know where to go to find it—Jupiter’s ocean world, Europa.”


To watch this fascinating video, visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz9VhCQbPAk&sns=em.


Back on Earth, after three intelligent and thought-provoking seasons, HBO’s The Newsroom came to an end and so did David Harbour’s recurring role as Elliot Hirsch. David can now be seen in State of Affairs, the new NBC drama about a CIA officer (played by Katherine Heigl) who leaves the field to become the president’s daily briefer in charge of targeting the country’s most critical threats. David portrays David Patrick, the president’s chief of staff who will do whatever it takes to further the agenda of the president, played by Alfre Woodard. Check it out on Mondays at 10 p.m. or at www.nbc.com.


You may also have seen David in the recent feature films A Walk Among the Tombstones, starring Liam Neeson, and The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington. This fall he will appear in Black Mass, based on Boston crime boss Whitey Bulger.


As if the release of both The Lego Movie and 22 Jump Street in the same year wasn’t enough, Phil Lord and Chris Miller can add directing a real trailer for a fake movie to their credits. If you caught the new Annie film, you may have noticed the fake movie within the movie starring Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Rihanna. Phil and Chris directed the trailer for Moonquake Lake, which nicely parodies young adult supernatural romance films. You can see it at www.sonypictures.com/movies/moonquakelake. The pair also directed the pilot for The Last Man on Earth, set to debut on Fox in March.


Take care, everyone, and let me know what you’re up to.


—Jason Casell, 10106 Balmforth Lane, Houston, TX 77096; jhcasell@gmail.com