astronomy

The Whispering Star

The Whispering Star is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Whispering Star rather than just read about it. In short: The Whispering Star (ひそひそ星) is a 2015 Japanese science fiction film directed by Sion Sono. The film was released in 2015 and, in March 2016, was played during the Environmental Film Festival at the National Museum of American History, Warner Brothers Theater, in Washington, DC.

Key takeaways

The Whispering Star belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Whispering Star to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Whispering Star from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Whispering Star (ひそひそ星) is a 2015 Japanese science fiction film directed by Sion Sono. The film was released in 2015 and, in March 2016, was played during the Environmental Film Festival at the National Museum of American History, Warner Brothers Theater, in Washington, DC.

Plot In an unspecified future, an A.I. cyborg delivery woman—Yoko Suzuki (Megumi Kagurazaka)—travels through the galaxy delivering packages to the few humans still scattered around, who are now living on different earth-like planets showing clear signs of environmental disasters. Through her encounters with the delivery recipients Yoko will learn to understand and appreciate human emotions.

Cast Megumi Kagurazaka Kenji Endō Yūto Ikeda Kōko Mori

Production The Whispering Star was the first film produced by Sion Sono's production company Sion Production. Filming took place in Fukushima Prefecture. Apart from one scene, where the main character is on her way delivering her first package, it is a black-and-white film.

Reception Richard Gray of thereelbits.com gave the film 4 out of 5 stars, calling it “a wholly unique experience, and an amazing accomplishment in visually-driven storytelling.”

Accolades The film won the NETPAC Award for World or International Asian Film Premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.

Trivia At various times throughout the movie, Marin Marais's Tombeau pour Mr. de Lully (from the Deuxième Livre de Pièces de Viole) is heard. This is a recurring leitmotiv in Sono's movies, being also used at key points in his previous movie Guilty of Romance.

References

External links The Whispering Star at IMDb

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Whispering Star

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Whispering Star claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Whispering Star before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Whispering Star ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Whispering Star

In research: The Whispering Star appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Whispering Star in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Whispering Star is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2010s Japanese film stubs, 2010s science fiction film stubs, 2015 Japanese films, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Whispering Star outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Whispering Star in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Whispering Star means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Whispering Star out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Whispering Star in simple terms?

Why does The Whispering Star matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Whispering Star?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Whispering Star.