It's not all that unusual. There are a lot of species that have barely changed in a similar amount of time. The coelacanth for example. Or horseshoe crabs. Or nautili.

Actually, I'd say that's on the nerdier side of the equation myself, but maybe my pop culture arithmetic is wrong.

Star Wars has always been kind of mainstream. It's true that the EU has traditionally been seen as kind of a nerd thing, but let's not forget that the first movie still stands as one of the highest grossing movies of all time and none of the films that followed it (from the OT and Prequels anyway) were box office…

I think a big part of it is that it is the most high profile sexualized outfit in the entire franchise. Sticking just to the movies (which, let's be honest, is the only thing most people are familiar with) if you don't use slave Leia you're stuck with... hmm... let's see... Padme with her shirt torn and... Twi'lek…

So... by that logic a slave isn't depowered by their bondage if she then goes on to kill her master?

I was actually about to post the exact same thing.

Wait, Keiko Awaji is a gamer? I had no idea. That's kind of really awesome.

Hey, kid's entertainment can be good!

Thanks, io9 (and NASA)! That was indeed indelibly awesome.

Nope, that's a common misconception. Sentient merely means you are capable of having feelings. The etymological root is the Latin word "sentio" which means "to feel" or "to perceive." Granted, a lot of sci-fi writers get this wrong too, but it is definitely not the technical term for self-awareness.

Siddig didn't like the way they wrote Bashir towards the end (what with the genetically enhanced plotline among other things) and according to interviews he's given since he deliberately tried to sabotage the role. He also broke up with Nana Visitor during the last few seasons after having a child with her (hence the…

You know, I actually didn't know most of that. Way to dig up some obscure trivia.

I was including the most recent iterations of the games yes, though I will agree that StarCraft II is significantly less innovative or imaginative than the first game. I still think it's art though and that there was genuine creative direction behind it, even if it was just as much polished to try and appease the…

True, but in a completely independent development environment do you have an editor? That's what I'm asking.

I'd say games like StarCraft or Mass Effect qualify as art just for starters. But then, I suppose my definition is broader than some's. I think that even if something is bad (and neither of those two games are bad) it can still qualify as art.

While I'm all for supporting independent development and all (and indeed, I would have helped to fund this if I'd discovered it earlier) I'm not particularly fond of the idea that corporate publishers are 100% antithetical to the development of art.

It certainly wouldn't surprise me if certain animals like chimpanzees, gorillas, bottlenose dolphins, elephants, or octopi were quasi-sapient. I simply find the claim that most animals are is a bit far-reaching.

If we're saying that a lot of animals are sentient (capable of feeling emotion), than, yeah, that's something we've known for a while.

Yeah, I suppose you could say that.