As the American west continues to dry out, science fiction about climate change is beginning take hold. Books from authors such as J.G. Ballard, Margaret Atwood and Paolo Bacigalupi are creating a new subgenre: Climate Fiction, stories about Earth and how its changes are impacting humanity.

There’s a Star Hiding in This Image. Can You Find It?

This brain teaser is a little different from the ones I usually feature on Sunday Puzzle. There’s no logic. No math. No tricky wording. Just an illustration and a hidden object. Some of you will spot it quickly. Others of you will not. I’ve actually done both. The first time I saw this image, nearly…

So You Want To Join The Empire: Movie-Accurate Troopers

We skipped a week with this column, but this week, I want to talk about the variations in the stormtrooper costume. Not all stormtroopers are the same, and between each film, there’s minor differences that need to be taken into consideration when building your costume. I’m just thinking about Stormtroopers this week, but there’s other…

“We’re Creating A Jaw-Dropping New World”: More Details About Disney’s Star Wars Land

Yesterday, we learned that Disney is adding some absolutely massive Star Wars expansions to their Florida and California parks. Now here’s a video showing the highlights of Bob Iger’s keynote speech—along with more concept art that wasn’t officially released. According to Iger, the entire experience will be deeply immersive, with shops run by various species,…

Get Shrunk to Toy Size and Ride A Slinky At New Toy Story Land Theme Park

Disney is known for two things: animated movies and theme parks, both of which are coming together in a major way in the near future. While the Star Wars park news was the big headline at the D23 Expo Saturday, the second one is Disney opening a full, Toy Story Land section at Disney’s Hollywood…

Fox Is Considering A Female-Centric Reboot Of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Collider is reporting that a planned reboot of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is in the works, and that this one will be “female-centric”. According to the site, at the Television Critic Association upfronts, Producer John Davis indicated that they’re still working on it: JOHN DAVIS: Just by going back to the roots and making it…

We Just Saw The First Amazing Footage From Dr. Strange and Captain America: Civil War

How will Marvel’s Phase Three movies manage to top the spectacle of Phase Two? We just got our first glimpse at D23. Marvel just showed us the first footage from Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange—the latter of which hasn’t even started filming yet. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige came on stage and started…

See How Sharlto Copley Was Transformed Into Chappie In This VFX Breakdown Reel

Image Engine, the Vancouver-based special effects company that worked on Neill Blomkamp’s Chappie, has posted up a VFX breakdown reel that shows just how they transformed Sharlto Copley into the film’s titular robot. The reel shows off just how intensive the CGI for the film was: Copley had to be taken out of each frame…

The One Change That Could Get True Detective Back On Track For Season 3

Season 2 of True Detective wrapped up last Sunday with a less-than-stellar finale: the various story lines mostly came together, but this season lacked much of the impact and focus of the HBO show’s first season. Allow me to suggest one change that should help the show get back on track: Take the story out…

WHO Declares Africa Free Of ‘Wild’ Cases Of Polio 

Chalk up a major win for global health: according to the World Health Organization, Africa has been free of wild cases of Polio since July. This comes down to a dedicated vaccination campaign that has advanced the continent towards zero cases. This news doesn’t mean that the continent is completely free if the disease. Africa…

Disney Is Adding A Massive 14 Acres of Star Wars To Its Theme Parks (Updated)

Years of rumors have finally be made official. Disney CEO Bob Iger just announced at the D23 Expo that they are making not one, but two, full-on Star Wars-themed lands at their theme parks. One at Hollywood Studios in Orlando and one at Disneyland in Anaheim, marking their largest single land park expansions ever. At…

When You Wish Upon A Star: The Most Gorgeous Cosplay From D23, Day One!

This weekend is D23, a huge celebration of all things Disney. Which now includes Star Wars and Marvel, thanks to the mighty age of corporate mega-mergers. So not surprisingly, the costumes at D23 are pretty damn stunning. Check out a selection of D23 cosplay from photographer Davann Srey, whose work we’ve featured before. Check out…

Behold The Glorious, Glorious Official Poster For Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Sure, we’ve had teaser trailers and cast announcements and all that hooplah, but it doesn’t really start to sink in that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is nearly here until you get a lovely big movie poster—and here’s the one shown off at D23, looking rather fantastic. This poster, with art from Drew Struzan—who designed…

What Alien Or Droid Is Alan Tudyk Playing In Star Wars: Rogue One? [Updated]

Here’s your first image of the cast from Gareth Edward’s Star Wars film, Rogue One. And it turns out that Firefly’s Alan Tudyk is playing a “performance capture” character in the film. Time to start speculating: Is he an alien, or a droid? Or something else? With the above picture, Lucasfilm has confirmed the cast…

Jurassic World‘s Colin Trevorrow Will Direct Star Wars Episode IX

At the D23 Expo, Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn announced that Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow will direct Star Wars: Episode IX, which is set to be released in 2019. Here’s the official press release from Disney: Today at D23, Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn announced that writer-director Colin Trevorrow will direct Star…

Serial Box Aims To Reinvent Storytelling For The Web

There’s a new start-up company out there that’s looking to reinvent how stories are told on the web: by publishing high-quality fiction serially. From all indications, Serial Box has a pretty incredible lineup of stories coming in the next couple of months. Founded by Julian Yap and Molly Barton in New York City, Serial Box…

Look At How Science Fiction Maps Out Our Future World

Over on Brain Pickings, Maria Popova writes about a timeline created by designer Giorgia Lupi, who mapped out how novels, short fiction and comics have imagined the future and where we’re headed. The map includes details about the distance between the book’s publication and the years that it imagines, and how said future is depicted.…

As major fantasy epics like Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire have become incredibly popular, their science fiction equivalents haven’t. Salon speculates that that might change for Dune, given its reputation for focusing on ecology and environmental issues.

Here’s How Firefly Would Have Looked As Pulp Novels

Upper Deck is putting together a set of Firefly trading cards, and artist Robert Jimenez is one of the artists involved. He’s put together some stunning cards of Joss Whedon’s series in pulp form. Jimenez noted that when Upper Deck was bringing on artists to draw up some Firefly cards, it was an opportunity to…

Star Wars Set To True Detective’s Credits Is Pretty Fantastic 

One of the best parts of True Detective has always been the fantastic opening credits: the double exposure and mix between characters and landscapes is eerie and very beautifully executed. When set to imagery from Star Wars? It’s pretty fantastic. Star Wars doesn’t exactly inspire a the same feeling of gothic mystery that True Detective…