Scifi Webisodes: What Should You Be Watching?

Webisodes: should you bother watching these two minute blips of video that permeate the web? Sometimes they only serve as advertising fluff, but occasionally you’ll get a juicy tidbit or two, like seeing what Admiral “Husker” Adama was up to during the first Cylon war. There are lot of them out there, but are they…

You May Not Like Him When He’s Angry, But What About When He’s . . . Red?

Bearing in mind that there’s going to be a new Incredible Hulk movie next summer – written by Ed Norton, and with the first trailer being premiered during the Super Bowl because that worked so well last time – Marvel Entertainment have released plans of what they’re planning to do to the Jolly Green Giant…

Dark Prophesy From NASA Photographer

Tyranny, one of the most visually haunting science fiction flicks available on the Web, comes from the imagination of a guy who spends his days photographing real-life science. John Beck Hofmann is director of photography at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, and that makes his tale of government conspiracies and machine-induced prophetic visions even more interesting.…

New Book Explains How to Peddle Your Ass in Second Life

The best thing about Daniel Terdiman’s new book, The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Second Life, is that it teaches you how to be a hooker. Sure there’s informative stuff about how to set up a business and advertise in the metaverse, but what pushes this book into virtual world classic territory is the blithe way Terdiman…

Indonesia to West: We Will Trade Virus for Your Vaccine

Indonesia is refusing to hand over its flu viruses to Western researchers, and that means flu vaccines this year may be less effective. Flu shots are basically created on a gamble that that popular Asian virus strains will come West by winter flu season. Epidemiologists study Asian viruses, predict which strains will come West, and…

Tron Sequel Will Feature Cutting-Edge Special Effects

Men in day-glo body suits could battle in a virtual world again soon. Jeff Bridges says he’s eager to do a Tron sequel. For a while, Disney was talking about a remake instead, but Bridges says he expects to be pitched a sequel in the near future. And he’s excited to do Tron 2, because…

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe screenwriter: “If we don’t see the humanity and the truth in what [supervillain] Skeletor’s trying to do, then the story’s not compelling.” He also explains why you can’t be afraid to say the words “He-Man,” and the importance of staying true to He-Man’s science fiction roots. [IESB]

1960s Psychedelic Computer Art Done By “Plotter”

This drawing was made in 1968 by a computer called CalComp, and was shown at an exhibition devoted to computer “plotter art.” Image courtesy of the Smithsonian Science Service Historical Image Collection.

Environmental Disaster Is Not All Bad, Apparently

Sure, lack of sunlight may be the kind of things to plunge the world into some dystopian hell ruled by vampires and sexy cyborg killers in the movies, but scientists are beginning to think of the upsides to smog blocking out the sun in the real world. The first one they’ve found? The reduction of…

They Still Ain’t Afraid Of No Ghosts

With it being possibly the most eagerly awaited, yet arguably unexpected, sequel since the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie, news has leaked that work has started on Ghostbusters 3. But there’s a catch: It’s not actually going to be a movie. The latest issue of Game Informer has the scoop: Harold Ramis, Bill Murray and…

Dating, Dinner, and . . . Dictators

Even though Jaime almost loses a tail because she’s yakking with Tom during working hours, the Berkut Group assigns her and Antonio to protect President Rudan of the (faux) African nation of Imara from an assassination threat. Rudan’s a ruthless dictator who’s killed thousands of his own people, but if he is killed during his…

Why Does The VW Space Car Look Like A Dumb Star Trek Shuttle?

Volkswagen’s new car is cool: fuel-cell powered and plug in ready. VW unveiled the sci-fi sounding “space up! blue” at the Los Angeles Auto Show Nov. 14. But why does it have to look like the boxy shuttlecraft that Mister Spock used to pilot in the 1960s? More proof that Star Trek is best left…

Time for a Movie About Parthenogenesis

It’s been a couple of years since scientists were able to create a baby mouse via parthenogenesis, combining the DNA from two female mice to create a baby with no father. Now it’s time for a scary, smart movie about what would happen to a world where men were no longer needed for reproduction. It’s…

Siberian Doomsday Supercrater Finally Located

A team of scientists has finally located the impact crater from a “Doomsday” 1908 meteor strike that was one thousand times more powerful than the blast that leveled Hiroshima. You wouldn’t think looking for something that size would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, but it’s gone undetected for nearly 100…

The Internet Will Control Your Entire Body By 2020

We’ll have full-body cyber suits by 2020, predicts futurist blogger Michael Anissimov. Cybersex and online gaming will be the main drivers behind the development of haptic suits, which he predicts we’ll have by 2020. He makes a token nod at the military training applications for these suits, but mostly it’s all about screwing and roughhousing.…

Viggo Mortenson As The Father Of Science Fiction?

Sylvester Stallone wants Viggo Mortensen to pick up the pen and cavort with ravens in a film he’s directing about the life of Edgar Allan Poe. Long known for his dark horror, fantasy and detective tales, Poe also created the first futuristic dystopia in fiction. Poe penned the dark future tale Mellonta Tauta which is…

China Will Win The Next Space Race

What will it take to launch another space age to replace the one that ended with the Cold War? Maybe another space race. China is ramping up its efforts to put people back on the Moon, launch more lunar orbiters, and build its own space station. Already, China is challenging the U.S.’ domination of space…

Future Cities Will Run On Pig Shit

Forget wind turbines and solar panels. In the ragtag future, Tina Turner will get her mood lighting from hog lagoons. In Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, an army of pigs swarms beneath Bartertown, one of the last (semi) civilized outposts. The pigshit produces methane, a gas which keeps the city’s power going. The only thing anybody…

Ludacris will be the leader of an underground resistance group called HUMANZ in the dystopian play-or-die film Game, also starring Gerald (300) Butler and Alison Lohman. Image by Splashnews.

Spy Satellite Diagnoses Cancer

Satellites will soon capture ultrasound images of unborn children in rural Nunavut and beam them all the way to Ontario. It’s just part of a new pilot program which uses technology developed for diagnosing astronauts from Earth. Already, doctors in Calgary can look at real-time ultrasounds of patients in Banff and figure out what ails…