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io9Books & ComicsNPR Wants Scifi Novels On Your Bedside Table
NPR’s Nancy Pearl, who has probably written enough words about science fiction to fill a couple of Del Rey compendiums with, has laid out of a list of her recommended reading. While technically only two of the books on her list are science fiction, you can’t really argue with Frederik Pohl and Joe Haldeman. Neal … Continued
By Kevin Kelly -
io9Movies
The Savior in Science Fiction Films
There have been a recent rash of websites posting about the Christ-like similarities that some of the major figures in science fiction films exhibit. Everyone from Paul Atreides in Dune, to Neo in The Matrix, to Spock in Star Trek, and even Doctor Who seem to have the same messianic properties, but is it case … Continued
By Kevin Kelly -
io9
Cities Will Save the Planet and Suburbs Are Racist
If we want to survive as a species, we will have to live in massive mega-cities. Living at one with nature is just crap idealism from the past, and the suburbs are nothing more than archaic residue of racist white flight patterns. So says futurist-environmentalist Van Jones. He isn’t afraid to piss people off, and … Continued
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io9
TV’s Frank From MST3K Masquerades As Studio Executive
Although it’s been more than a decade since TV’s Frank (Frank Conniff) appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000, it’s hard to mistake his white hair and baritone voice in this parody video showing us the other side of the Writer’s Guild Strike: the poor, suffering studio executives. Besides playing what looks like a chubbier version … Continued
By Kevin Kelly -
io9Movies
Time Travel Is Like Heroin in Primer
Four corporate drones trying to spinoff a cool startup accidentally discover time travel in Shane Carruth’s dark SF flick Primer, a Sundance hit in 2004. Carruth’s tale explores what happens when time travel doesn’t work quite the way you’d expect — to travel back in time 6 hours, you have to sit in a cramped … Continued
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io9Movies
Harlan Ellison Not Happy About Star Trek Movie Rumors
If you’ve been reading anything about the upcoming J.J. Abrams Star Trek remake online, then it’s probably been boring stuff like casting rumors. However, plot details have started to surface over the past few days, and at least one person out there isn’t happy about it. Fair warning: there be potential spoilers ahead. Harlan Ellison, … Continued
By Kevin Kelly -
io9Movies
Joss Whedon Says the Strike Isn’t About Money
Joss Whedon appeared on the Hollywood picket lines in a rather rakish Australian Akubra hat to show his support for the strike, and broke down what it’s all about. While he says residuals aren’t really about the money, the translation is: yes, it’s all about the money. He uses the analogy of a baker getting … Continued
By Kevin Kelly -
io9
Camera Surveillance Is 94 Years Old
The All-Seeing Eye in the Sky is watching you, thanks to satellites, wiretaps and “trusted” computers. Or maybe superheroes can hear your every murmur from their private satellite. Feeling paranoid yet? Then you’re just in the right frame of mind for Diet Soap, a new zine that aims to channel the wacked-out writing of Philip … Continued
By Charliejane -
io9
Scifi Capsule Hotel Opens In London
Never before have we seen a hotel whose rooms let you pretend you’re an officer embarking on the maiden voyage of a new starcruiser. If you’re in London next month, try out the new Yotel, a Japanese capsule hotel in the Queen’s backyard. From their press materials, “The study desk folds out of the techno … Continued
By Kevin Kelly -
io9
Astronomers were warning an asteroid (a comet?) was due to swerve closer to Earth than any large object since the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs — in just a few days. They were all set to issue an “emergency email” and start going on television telling people not to panic too much. At the … Continued
By Charliejane -
io9
Cast Members of Old and New Bionic Woman Snipe at One Another
Original bionic woman Lindsay Wagner is apparently not a fan of the show’s new incarnation, which she finds “kind of dark and broody and violent”—and not in a good way. “It’s not at all what we were doing. We were doing a show for kids intentionally and making it fun in such a way that … Continued
By Peril -
io9Movies
Man Hops Off A Freight Train At 7,000 KPH In Space
Rockets may be a thing of the past one of these days. Instead, we may use huge electromagnetic "rail guns" to escape from the gravity of a body such as Earth or the Moon. But this concept hasn’t appeared much in movies or TV yet. Hence this new short film (which is still in development, … Continued
By Charliejane -
io9
Secret Papers of the Man Who Harnessed the Energy of the Human Orgasm
It’s special time for orgasm science. This month marks the fiftieth anniversary of Wilhelm Reich, the controversial philosopher who was eventually sent to prison for his theories of sexual revolution and the “orgone,” a unit of energy derived from human orgasms. His personal papers, held at Harvard until 50 years after his death, will now … Continued
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io9Movies
Astro Boy Will Be “Dark Pinocchio” Story Of Robot Violence
The animated Astro Boy movie, due out in 2009, will be a gorgeous and painterly homage to Hiyao Miyazaki and early George Lucas, director Colin Brady tells FirstShowing.net. This “dark Pinocchio” story (about a robot who can never become human) will feature hardcore robot-on-robot violence. And judging from the first concept art, it’ll be gorgeous. … Continued
By Charliejane -
io9
New Doctor Who Star Could Be His Own Worst Enemy
Could the Master be the new Doctor? That’s what one newspaper is claiming. John Simm, who danced rings around David Tennant as the psycho arch-villain, is the “hot favorite” to play the Doctor when Tennant leaves. But it’s unclear how the show could get around the fact that we saw Simm’s body being cremated: If … Continued
By Charliejane -
io9Books & Comics
The Only Good Science Fiction Poems Ever Written Are By Jessy Randall
She’s not exactly your typical science fiction writer, but Colorado poet Jessy Randall has done what precious few poets have ever done well: beautifully capture the way our emotional lives in the modern world have become infused with the imagery and alienness of science fiction. I just heard Randall give a reading in support of … Continued
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io9Movies
Super-Rabies Turns LA Building Into Death Trap In Quarantined
Plagues are the new monsters. Just look at Quarantined, the movie Screen Gems just green-lighted about a reporter and her camera crew, trapped inside a building where a deadly new strain of rabies rages. It sounds very 28 Days Later, but also like a zoom-lens on the future of our overpopulated and psychotic global village. … Continued
By Charliejane -
io9
Reaping the Flip Flop Harvest on Kenya’s Polluted Coast
Plastic flip flop sandals discarded in the oceans off the coast of Asia have formed a new kind of fauna on the coast of Northern Kenya. So many sandals wash ashore that over the past decade locals have begun harvesting them, turning them into colorful toys, and selling them for more money than they could … Continued
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io9Television
TV Guide’s Brian Ausiello has an awesome chart of how long your favorite TV shows can stay on the air during the writer’s strike. Bottom line: Heroes has four eps left, Chuck has six remaining and Smallville has a whopping eight. But poor Bionic Woman only has three more episodes in the can.
By Charliejane
