Category Archives: Immortality

The 2002 Hulk story "Return of the Monster" brought Bruce Banner back to his roots, sharing many similarities with the beginning of Immortal Hulk.

The highly acclaimedImmortal Hulkseries begins with a simple premise: Bruce Banner wandering through the American Southwest. Along the way, the Hulk occasionally emerges, punishing those who harmed others. This premise is a classic component of the Hulk's mythos, exemplified years earlier in "Return of the Monster," a story that began in 2002's Incredible Hulk#34, by Bruce Jones, John Romita Jr., Tom Palmer, Studio F, Richard Starkings, Wes Abbott and standout covers by Kaare Andrews.

"Return of the Monster" began much likeImmortal Hulk, with Banner aimlessly drifting across the country. As a fugitive from the law, Banner would stay in motels under assumed names. Banner did everything to hide himself, from growing a beard to shaving his head entirely. The only form of contact which Banner had was on an encrypted laptop, frequently messaging the enigmatic "Mr. Blue." During his attempts to stay below the radar, Banner ran into some trouble. For example, a young man named Jerome found himself caught up in local gang violence. Although Banner tried to help Jerome himself, ultimately, the Hulk emerged, beating up a group of street criminals off-panel. Banner also found himself constantly hunted by government agencies. At several points in this story, the Hulk emerged todispatch his pursuers.

Related:Hulk: Maestro Reveals Which MAJOR Marvel Villain Survived the Apocalypse

Eventually, a recurring agency, called Home Base,began hunting down the Jade Giant. Home Base hired agents Jink Slater and Sandra Verdugo to find and capture the Hulk. These highly-trained, deadly killers were approached by Home Base, along with Doc Samson. Banner's old friend turned down Home Base's offer, instead attempting to find and help Bruce.

After a great deal of work, Samson finally tracked Banner down to a diner, where Slater and Verdugo also found the scientist. Samson warned Banner of the impending danger, just in time for the Hulk to emerge and flee through a smokescreen of destruction. Throughout the story, it was assumed that the Hulk was responsible for the death of a young boy, Ricky Myers. When Banner found Verdugo in a secluded cabin, she revealed herselfas Ricky's mother. In truth, Sandra was accused of killing her son and sent to death row. Home Base offered Verdugo the chance to save herself and her son. After she was executed, Verdugo was mysteriously revived by Home Base, who also gave her incredible strength and healing abilities.

Verdugo revealed to Banner that Home Base faked the footage of the Hulk killing Ricky, intending to hunt and use the Hulk for their own purposes. Sandra also told Banner that Samson was Ricky's true father. Before they could make another move, Slater arrived at the cabin, intent on killing Banner. Fortunately, Verdugo blew up the cabin, with Bruce transforming into the Hulk at the last minute. Burying the assassins, Banner moved on to investigate Home Base.

In many ways, "Return of the Monster" brings the Hulk back to his roots. With this storyline, Banner's journey is simplified, removing many of his alternate personas such as Joe Fixit or the smart Professor Hulk. Much like some of his earliest appearances, Banner spends time wandering the Southwest, hiding from his pursuers. Of course, this Hulk is not the friendly, Savage Hulk of the 1960s and '70s. Rather, the Hulk in this tale is more of a looming presence, rarely appearing on the page.

Related:Hulk: How Heart of the Monster Made the Avenger STRONGER Than Ever

The true destruction and devastation that this Hulk brings makehim a true monster. While the inspiration for the 2008 film The Incredible Hulkispresent, the story is also very similar to Immortal Hulk's beginning.This Hulk is fairly similar to the Devil Hulk, in that they both emerge primarily to punish those who harm innocents. There's a clear purpose to what these Hulks do. Both Hulks are part of Banner's aimless wandering, emerging only when night falls or when absolutely necessary.

Still, there are some major differences between "Return of the Monster" andImmortal Hulk. For one thing, Banner ismore of the protagonist in "Return of the Monster" than the Hulk. This story isvery much Bruce's journey, with mere glimpses of the Hulk.Immortal Hulk, on the other hand, gives the Jade Giant his own perspective and voice. The Devil Hulk has long moments of dialogue and action, while "Return of the Monster" rarely shows the Hulk. Additionally, the Devil Hulk is accompanied by other personas, not limited to simply one perspective. As a whole, Banner is also much more ambitious and proactive inImmortal Hulk. "Return of the Monster, " for instance, features Banner on the run, evading his pursuers.Immortal Hulk, however, illustrates the Hulk's long-term goal to end humanity as we know it, taking the fight to corporations like Roxxon. Despite their differences, both "Return of the Monster" and Immortal Hulk found success by emphasizing primal aspects of the Hulk and building their narratives around those ideas.

KEEP READING:Hulk: The POWERHOUSE Ultimate Marvel Hero Never Got His Due

The Flash Dooms a Classic Speedster to a HORRIFYING Future Fate

Nabeel Gaber is a longtime reader of a plethora of comic books. He's based in Houston, Texas, following all of the latest comic book media from movies to television. Nabeel is a graduate of Trinity University, working now as a freelance comic book features writer. In his spare time, Nabeel enjoys running, improv comedy, and all the comics he can get his hands on!

Read the original here:
Hulk: How "Return of the Monster" Took Bruce Banner Back to His Roots - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Please follow and like us:

Immortal people as per hindu mythology? Yes, thats right. There are some people considered to be immortal or Chiranjeevi as perhindu mythology. Lets find out about these immortal people as per hindu mythology.

Ashwathama

Ashwatthama was the son of Dronacharya, the guru (teacher) of Pandavas and Kauravas. He was also a friend of Duryodhana. Ashwathama was born with a gem on his forehead that protected him from diseases, weapons, and any other harm that may come his way. During the Mahabharat war, Ashwatthama killed five sons of Pandavas while they were asleep considering them to be the Pandavas. Later, he diverted one of the deadliest astras on earth towards the unborn child of Abhimanyu. Krishna got very angry at this and took his gem embedded on his forehead which left a wound there. Krishna then cursed him with immortality saying that his wound would never heal and he will wander in the world and suffer.

Parashurama

Parashurama was the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu. He was born to rid the earth of immoral rulers. He was blessed with an axe from Lord Shiva after rigorous penance. It is believed that he would appear at the end of Kali Yug to be the Guru of Kalki, Vishnus last avatar.

Hanuman

Hanuman, the Vayuputhr sone of vayu (wind) is the dispeller of evil. Lord Hanuman is the symbol of innocence, strength, care, devotion, and knowledge. When Lord Rama decided to return to Vaikunta after killing Ravana, instead of going for Moksha, Hanuman chose to stay on earth to protect the devotees of Rama and be present wherever Ramas name is recited. Hence, Lord Hanuman is considered to be still alive and counted among 8 immortals Chiranjeevis in Hindu Mythology.

Immortal people as per hindu mythology

Vibhishana

Vibhishan, who was the younger brother of Demon-King Ravanan fought on the side of Lord Rama. He was blessed as a Chiranjeevi to sustain goodness and virtue in Lanka and to lead people on the path of Dharma.

Do read: Story of Goddess Lakshmi and Padmavati

Kripacharya

Kripacharya was the Kul Guru (teacher) of the Kurus. He was blessed to be a Chiranjeevi (immortality) because of his impartiality towards all of his students. He is often admired as the ideal Guru.

King Mahabali

Mahabali, also known as Bali was a Daitya king. King Mahabali is popularly known as Maveli and Onathappan. Because of his humbleness, Lord Vishnu got pleased with him and blessed him with immortality and allowed him to return to the earth once every year to visit his people. Hence, it is said that the day of Onam is the day of the visit of King Mahabali to Kerala.

Vyasa

Veda Vyasa is the author and a character in one of the greatest epic of Hindus, Mahabharata. The epic represents intelligence, vision, and wisdom. He is also credited as the writer of other important works including the Puranas.

Markandeya

Markandeya is an ancient rishi. The meaning of his name Markandeya is the one who conquers over death. He was a devotee of both Lord Shiva and Vishnu. Shiva protected Markandeya from the clutches of death and since then he is considered Chiranjeevi.

Must read: Find out where some of the Hindu Gods were born

The above names and information is based on hearsay and what is available in the public domain. We do not claim this to be 100% correct and proven.

For more articles like, Immortal people as per hindu mythology, do follow us onFacebook,Twitter,andInstagram. For watching our collection of videos, follow us onYouTube.

Go here to see the original:
Immortal people as per hindu mythology | People who will never die - Tentaran

Cancer is the second biggest killer disease globally. In 2020, one crore persons died from cancer globally, that is about one in six deaths. In India, one in ten persons will get cancer and one in fifteen will die of cancer.

Can cancer be prevented? To answer that, we must know what cancer is and why it happens. Only then can we think of how it may be prevented. And if it cannot be prevented, then how the risk of getting it may be reduced.

What is Cancer?

Our body is composed of many different types of cells. These cells grow and divide in acontrolledmanner to produce more cells as required by the body. Also, the older cells and the damaged cells die.

However, sometimes, the genetic material of one cell gets damaged or changed [mutation] and the cell becomes immortal: that is, it will not die. When thisancestor celldivides,itsdescendant cells are also immortal. This gives rise to a limitless number of immortal descendant cells. The number of cells is far more than what the body needs. The extra cells then form a mass that is called a tumour.

These immortal cells are called cancer cells. The cancer cells are immortal; are capable of limitless division, and thus of limitless growth in the number of cells; and can spread [Metises] to other parts of the body through blood and lymph system.

There are more than 100 types of cancers. Not all cancers form tumours: cancers of the blood and the bone-marrow [leukaemia], for example, do not form tumours.

Most cancers are named for the body part in which they begin: colon cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer and so on.

Only about 10% of cancer deaths are because of primary tumour. Most of the deaths are because of metastasis spreading of the cancer to other parts of the body. Once metastasis happens, it is exceedingly difficult to treat. Early detection of cancer is therefore of utmost importance.

Why Cancer Happens

We do not know why cancer happens, that is why the cells turn cancerous. The main reasons are genetics and certain environmental or behavioural triggers. Some types ofcancerare believed to be inherited, that is the genes you were born with might carry a predisposition for cancer.

Can Cancer be Prevented?

Cancer is a 3200-year-old disease. It is endogenous, a part of life-process. So, it can neither be eradicated, nor prevented, nor cured. Yet.

Genes and behaviour are the two factors for the occurrence of cancer. We do not have control over genes. But we can modify our behaviour to reduce the risk of cancer. Reducing the risk is all the more important because cancer treatment success rate is not particularly good.

Cancer Treatment Success Rate

If the cancer is detected early, that is at Stage 1, prognosis is excellent and usually chemotherapy is not required.

If detected in Stage 2 & 3 prognosis is progressively poorer with a greater risk of recurrence. Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are required.

If detected in Stage 4, that is metastatic cancer (spread to distant sites), prognosis is poor. Surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted therapies are used. But the 10-year survival rate is 5% without treatment and 10 % with optimal treatment.

Since cancer cannot be prevented, late detection of cancer is fatal, and the success rate of cancer treatment is poor, reducing the risk of getting cancer is important.

Reducing the Risk of Getting Cancer

One-third (33%) of cancer deaths are due to five factors: obesity (high Body Mas Index), low fruit and vegetable intake, low physical activity and alcohol and tobacco use. Tobacco use causes 22% of the deaths. Cancer causing infections like hepatitis and human papilloma virus (HPV) cause 25% of deaths in low- and middle-income countries.

We can reduce the risk of cancer by a few lifestyle modifications. These are:

Tobacco. Cut out use of tobacco and tobacco products.

Diet. Eat plant-based foods: plenty of fruits and vegetables of different colors, leafy green vegetables, whole grain, and beans. Women who eat Mediterranean diet, extra virgin oil, legumes, and nuts have a lower risk of breast cancer. Avoid high calorie foods, animal fats like butter, refined sugar, and processed food, especially processed red meat. Chose fish over red meat.

Alcohol. Risk of several types of cancer including cancer of breast, colon, lung, kidney, and liver increases with the amount of alcohol you drink and the length of time you have been drinking. Avoid alcohol, or drink only in moderation.

Weight. Healthy weight, within your Body Mass Index (BMI), reduces the risk of several types of cancer including the cancer of the breast, prostate, lung, colon, and kidney.

Physical activity. Run, jog, brisk walk, swim, cycle it will help control your weight and reduce the risk of cancers of breast and colon. Do at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity every day; and least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity or a combination of the two. The longer the better.

Avoid exposure sunlight

Skin cancer is one of the most common, and one of the most preventable, cancers. Sunlight is the major cause of skin cancer. So, avoid the sun, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the suns rays are strongest. Stay in the shade.Use sunglasses and a broad-brimmed hat. Cover exposed areas.Wear tightly woven, loose fitting clothing that covers as much of your skin as possible. Opt for bright or dark colors, which reflect more ultraviolet radiation than do pastels or bleached cotton. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, even on cloudy days. Apply sunscreen generously and reapply every two hours or more often if youre swimming or perspiring. Avoid tanning beds and sunlamps.These are just as damaging as natural sunlight.

Vaccination

Cancer prevention includes protection from certain viral infections.

Early Detection

Since prevention is not possible, prevention is the cure is modified to early detection is the cure. Early detection of cancer can greatly improve the five- or ten-year survival rate.

Regular self-exams and screenings for various types of cancers such as cancer of the skin, colon, cervix, and breast can increase the chances of discovering cancer early, thus improving the chances of successful treatment.

Conclusion

Over the past 2000 years, the survival rate for many cancers has improved dramatically: life expectancy increased by 20-30 years. But for a few other cancers metastatic pancreas cancer, metastatic breast cancer, inoperable gallbladder cancer improvement has been marginal: life extended by just a few months.

Late detection of cancer is fatal. The causes for late detection are many but lack of awareness is the principal cause. Other main causes are: patient being shy,social stigma and doctors ignorance because of which the treatment is delayed. An awareness program will address all these issues.

Present state of our knowledge makes us believe that cancer prevention or cure is not possible because cancer is a product of the processes essential to the life process.

Will some radical discovery in the future make cancer prevention and cure possible? We dont know. But we can always hope.

Because as Richard Clauser, Director, NCI, USA, says about the future of cancer cure, There are far more good historians than there are prophets.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

END OF ARTICLE

The rest is here:
Cancer prevention - The Times of India Blog

After trying to save Wally West from the demonic Famine in The Flash: Future State, Barry Allen just changed in a shocking way.

Spoilers forFuture State: The Flash #2 below.

In DC's dark future, The Flash continues to be built around hope. Following the deaths of members of his Flash-Family, Allen still believes he can save Wally West. Yet, the villainous Famine gains his powers from feeding on those aspirations and once Barry Allen tries to stop him once and for all, he's changed in a way that alters his future forever.

In Future State: The Flash, part of DC's two-month, line-wide event set in the dark future of their comic book universe, Barry is reeling after a possessed Wally West killed multiple members of his speedster family. Famine's control of Wally has led to the deaths of Wallace West, Jay Garrick, Impulse, and possibly Iris West, who went missing. Without his speed, Allen relies on science and the old, reworked gadgets of his enemies in a last-ditch effort to save Wally. But, his fight against Famine doesn't go as planned.

Related:The Flash: Why Savitar's Timeline Was The Worst Barry Allen Created

Future State: The Flash #2 by Brandon Vietti, Brandon Peterson, Will Conrad, Mike Atiyeh, and Steve Wands, has Allen build his new suit out of upgraded versions of the weapons of his rogue's gallery villains. He actually has some early success against Wally/Famine, using Captain Boomerang's boomerangs and Rainbow Raider's Prisma-goggles to seemingly knock his opponent down. However, after it's revealed the Wally he's taken down is actually a Speed Force duplicate, Barry uses a modified cold gun to inject Wally's genetically altered DNA into his body, which destroys his skeletal muscles. Famine leaves his body and reveals he actually feeds on hope. Taking over Wally's body again, Famine pushes Barry a moment outside of time, turning him into an immortal ghost.

Ultimately, Famine isn't defeated and tells Barry that he will feed on him "forever" since he never runs out of hope. Barry's Flash ring falls off his hand onto the ground but is picked up by Cybeast of the Teen Titans. The ring contains the data and final experiments Barry did and the intel he gathered - including information on the Four Horsemen Rider's. He communicates to his team that Barry's ring will give them a fighting chance for a better tomorrow.

In the end, Barry might have lost his battle with Famine and turned into an immortal ghost, but he inspired the surviving heroes to keep fighting on with the new information that's sure to be vital in building a better future. As DC's new Infinite Frontier approaches, it appears Barry and Wally will get their powers back and return to their heroic duties - however, in DC's dark future, The Flash was just changed forever... but at least he's still giving hope to his fellow heroes.

Next:Who The Flash Season 7's Mystery Villain Could Be

Deadpool Just Saved Marvel From a Lawsuit

Liam McGuire is a comics editor for Screen Rant. He has worked for numerous publications including Cineplex Canada, MLB.com, Vice, CBR.com, and more. You can reach out to him directly at liam.m@screenrant.com

Read this article:
The Future Flash's Defeat Might Be Key To Saving The DC Universe - Screen Rant

If the double helix is an icon of the modern age, then the genome is one of the last grand narratives of modernity, writes Lara Choksey in her new book, Narrative in the Age of the Genome. Hybridizing literary criticism with a genre-spanning consideration of a dozen distinct literary works, and imbued throughout with deep concern for the peripheral, the possible, and the political, the book seeks to challenge the whole imaginative apparatus for constructing the self into a coherent narrative, via the lexicon and syntax of the molecular.

To a reading of Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene (1976) as a repudiation of class struggle and E. O. Wilson's Sociobiology (1975) as a defense of warfare, Choksey juxtaposes another kind of ambiguous heterotopia in which genetic engineering is a tool of neoliberal self-fashioning. In Samuel R. Delany's Trouble on Triton (1976), Bron, a transgender ex-gigolo turned informatics expert, is caught between sociobiology and the selfish gene, between the liberal developmentalism of progressive evolution, and the neoliberal extraction and rearrangement of biological information. Even the undulating interruptions and parentheticals of Bron's thoughts [mimic] the description of the activation and silencing of genes, she suggests, tying together gene and genre in a way that encapsulates neoliberal alienation.

Choksey next explores the ways in which collectivist fantasies of biological reinvention under Soviet Lysenkoism fused code and cultivation through a close reading of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic (1972) in which cultivated utopian dreamworlds become contaminated by alien forces, resulting in fundamental ecological transformations beyond the promised reach of human control. The novel brings to light not forgotten Soviet utopias but literal zombies and mutations. In a world where planned cultivation fails entirely in the face of the unfamiliar, even as new biological weapons are being developed, Earth itself viscerally reflects a fractured reality of lost promisesa world in crisis with all meaning gone, and survival itself a chancy proposition.

Framed as a family history, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is actually a horror story, argues Choksey.

As the promise of precision medicine emerged, so too did new forms of memoir. In Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go (2005) and the film Gattaca (1997), for example, the traditional aspirational narrative of a pilgrim's progress is subverted: As the unitary subject disappears into data, algorithms, and commodities, a new grammar of existence emerges, albeit one in which the inherited problems of the pastracism, ableism, and the fiction of heteronormativityremain ever-present.

In Saidiya Hartman's Lose Your Mother (2006) and Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing (2016), Choksey sees a reorientation of genomics away from the reduction of self to code and toward new forms of kinship and belonging that offer a reckoning with the histories of brutalization and displacement upon which liberal humanism is founded. Even as genomics seeks to locate the trauma of enslavement at the level of the molecular, communities seeking reunion and reparation know that technology alone cannot do the cultural work of caring for history that narrative can offer.

Reading Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010) as a biography of Black horror which tries, time and again, to resolve itself as family romance, Choksey identifies the perils of narratives unable to recognize their own genre. She argues that by blurring the lines not between fact and fiction but between horror and family history, the dehumanization of Black lives as experimental biomatter echoes inescapably with larger histories of the extraction of Black flesh for the expansion of colonial-capitalist production.

What emerges as most compelling out of this entire tapestry of readings is the author's interpretation of the limits and failures of the extraordinary cultural power of the genome. Concluding that genomics has privileged a particular conception of the human that is in the process of being reconfigured, Choksey ventures that the uncomplicated subject, the Vitruvian Man of the Human Genome Project, has reached its end. What is left is neither dust, stardust, nor a face erased in the sand (as Foucault would have it) but rather whatever might emerge next from the unwieldy kaleidoscope of possible meanings.

Read more:
Genomics and genre - Science Magazine

By: Mohnish Singh

After setting the box-office on fire with their first film together Uri: The Surgical Strike (2019), actor Vicky Kaushal and filmmaker Aditya Dhar are set to reunite for a superhero flick The Immortal Ashwatthama, which the makers officially announced a couple of weeks ago by releasing first-look posters.

The Immortal Ashwatthama sees Kaushal in a powerful character inspired by the warrior Ashwatthama, who played an important role in the war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas in Mahabharata.

We now hear that the makers are planning to begin production on the film in the month of June. Confirming the same, a source in the know informs a publication, The film is scheduled to be shot between June 2021 and December 2021. Earlier, the makers had plans to film in the UK, but owing to the present Covid-19 situation they are now looking at Hungary and Iceland. Aditya and his team will head for a recce in April depending on the situation in these countries.

Before the film goes before cameras in June, Vicky Kaushal will start his weapon training from mid-February. He will be training in archery, sword-fighting, spear-fighting, and martial arts. Besides Ashwatthama, the film will also feature a couple of more characters from Mahabharata, casting for which is presently underway, adds the source.

Meanwhile, Vicky Kaushal is currently busy shooting for Yash Raj Films next with former Miss World Manushi Chhillar. The untitled film is being directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya of Thugs of Hindostan (2018) fame. The actor will also be seen in Shoojit Sircars biographical drama Sardar Udham.

The Immortal Ashwatthama is a homecoming for Kaushal as besides Aditya Dhar, the actor also reunites with RSVP Movies Ronnie Screwvala two years after URI: The Surgical Strike.

Keep visiting this space for more updates and reveals from the world of entertainment.

Link:
Vicky Kaushal's The Immortal Ashwatthama to go before cameras in June - EasternEye - Eastern Eye