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Pandora, a world of wonder and mystery, incredible danger and strange beauty. From Earth's southern hemisphere, you can see the solar system where Pandora is located - Alpha Centauri. At a distance of 4.4 light years from earth, the Alpha Centauri system is our nearest stellar neighbour. The largest of its two sun-like stars - Alpha Centauri A or ACA to astronomers is Pandora's sun.

Pandora is one of many moons orbiting the planet Polyphemus - a gas giant planet the size of Saturn. Pandora's toxic atmosphere makes it uninhabitable by humans.

Tropical rain forest covers a large part of each of the continents. These rain forests are similar to those that once covered the Amazon Basin. But on a scale several times the size of anything on earth.

A wide variety of animals can be found throughout Pandora, awe-inspiring and dangerous. Most animals including the winged creatures of the sky are hexapods, six-limbed, except the humanoid Navi - standing 9 to 10 feet tall.

The Dire Horse is a six-legged behemoth, used by the Navi for hunting and tracking. The Navi also used the Banshee to hunt from the air. But hunter can become prey in the presence of the even larger Great Leonopteryx. In the canopy below, other vicious predators roam: packs of Viperwolves, thick-skinned hammerhead Titanotheres and the most fearsome land predator - the Thanator.

But there is beauty even in the most frightening things. In a dream-like landscape, reminiscent of a Magritte painting, vast magnetic fields coupled with the exotic properties of Unobtainium allow the Hallelujah Mountains to float in flux - constantly moving. As the most efficient super conductor known to exist, Unobtainium is a rare earth mineral mined by humans and the sole reason for their presence on Pandora.

Every living organism on Pandora has bioluminescent qualities that set the night aglow. Plants, animals and marine organisms share this same trait, emitting light in breathtaking patterns. From what scientists can tell, the Pandoran ecology works and communicates like a nervous system, suggesting a symbiotic relationship between all things Pandoran. Perhaps the best symbols of this relationship are small luminescent wood sprites, which are the seeds of the Vitraya Ramunong, the tree of souls. The tree is sacred to the Navi and believed to be the heart of the deep connection of all life.

Pandora, one can only think of its namesake in Greek mythology, the box has been opened. Amidst the savage terrain and fierce creatures, we must assume this strange bewitching place might hold something inside itself for us all - hope for our race, for our planet and for the future of all living things.

http://www.eoezone.com/bbs/viewthread.php?tid=14893

Chris Fry, March 2010

pending permission from Cambridge and the British Council's LearnEnglish

Contact: ChrisFry(at)pangea(dot)org

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