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Showing posts from September, 2018

Steampunk, science fiction gun art in sustainable waste exhibit

New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/steampunk-science-fiction-gun-art-in-sustainable-waste-exhibit/ - [unable to retrieve full-text content]Source: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/northern-district-times/steampunk-science-fiction-gun-art-in-sustainable-waste-exhibit/news-story/385a89aea9e2738a14cffe6e36564def

Star Trek: Enterprise-Shaped Gaming PC Unveiled By Lenovo

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/star-trek-enterprise-shaped-gaming-pc-unveiled-by-lenovo/ - Game long and prosper. This new Tiburn Enterprise Star Trek PC with an optional built-in projector is coming soon. #LenovoTechWorld pic.twitter.com/IcsTCAhTkc — Lenovo (@lenovo) September 28, 2018 Lenovo is boldly taking computers where they have never gone before with the newly revealed Lenovo Titanium PC shaped like Star Trek ’s USS Enterprise . The Lenovo Titanium Enterprise NCC-1701A is a large computer shaped like the iconic Star Trek Starship Enterprise . The model was unveiled at Lenovo’s Beijing Tech World Conference. Take a look in the video above. Hardcore Star Trek fans will likely note that the Lenovo Titanium PC isn’t quite an exact replica of the USS Enterprise . Digital Trends reports that Lenovo is owning up to this, saying that the model was made to resemble the Enterprise as closely as possible while keeping enough room for the impressive technology that Lenov

Sci-fi books for people who don"t think they like sci-fi

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/sci-fi-books-for-people-who-dont-think-they-like-sci-fi/ - I have always loved reading, but I will admit that I used to be a bit of a genre snob. With the exception of “Harry Potter,” my preferred books tended to stem from this reality. When a group of friends started talking about their favorite science fiction, college me said something dismissive about spaceships, dystopian overlords, and an obsession with the looming apocalypse. Somehow my college-age self did not see any irony in her declared love of “Star Wars.” My friends tried to defend particular titles, but I never let them get more than a few sentences into the descriptions. I would hear, “So this human raised on another planet comes back to Earth,” and I would just shut down. My friends could have written me off, but instead they came together and gave me a science fiction starter kit for my birthday. I am indebted to them. They planted a vital seed for my current desire to convince e

The history of drones in 10 milestones

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/the-history-of-drones-in-10-milestones/ - Here in 2018, drones are flying high — both figuratively and literally. Whether it’s military applications or product deliveries, these are 10 of the most significant milestones that explain how unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) became the ultra-hot product category that they are today. The earliest breakthroughs Wikipedia 1907: The world’s first quadcopter was created by inventor brothers Jacques and Louis Bréguet, working with controversial Nobel Prize winner Professor Charles Richet. While undoubtedly exciting, it had some big limitations: being unsteerable, requiring four men to steady it, and — in its first flight — lifting just two feet off the ground. But it did innovate the quadcopter form factor we have today. Hey, every journey has to start somewhere! The first military drones RAF 1917: Launched only 16 years after the Wright Brothers’ pioneering Kitty Hawk flight, the Ruston Proctor Aerial Ta

Asteroid mining is almost reality. What to know about the gold rush in space

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/asteroid-mining-is-almost-reality-what-to-know-about-the-gold-rush-in-space/ - Mining resources from asteroids may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but — at least if you believe some very smart people — it’s well on its way to becoming science fact. What will be mined? Why would anyone want to do this? And who are the main players in this (literal) space? Read on for a beginner’s guide to all things asteroid mining. I’m still not convinced. This is seriously a real thing? Well, with that attitude it won’t be! To answer your question: no, it’s not happening yet — but don’t count it out, either. With resources on Earth set to become increasingly scarce, it makes sense that we look further afield. Artist’s illustration of Deep Space Industries’ Harvestor-class spacecraft for asteroid mining. Deep Space Industries Depending on their type, asteroids can contain everything from water (useful for long-term space exploration missions) to nickel a

The best indie games for the PS4 (September 2018)

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/the-best-indie-games-for-the-ps4-september-2018/ - The PlayStation 4 is home to some of the best blockbuster exclusives around. This year alone brought us standout hits like  God of War  and Marvel’s Spider-Man . While big budget games like these offer staggering production value and immense polish, sometimes, you crave something different. That’s where independent video games come in. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of excellent indies to sink your teeth into and if you’re unsure where to start, take a look at this list of the best indie games on PS4. Action ‘Dead Cells’ Dead Cells combines the trappings of Metroidvanias with a rogue-like progression system. Playing as the Prisoner, a humanoid composed of dead cells (get it?), you make your way through a series of increasingly challenging dungeons. Although you can purchase permanent upgrades at the end of each section, when you die, you start back at the beginning. Much of Dead Cells , like m

Judith Dale: Frankenstein – 200 years later

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/judith-dale-frankenstein-200-years-later/ - Although Frankenstein – The Modern Prometheus, was written 200 years ago, it is still relevant today since it’s much more than a simple “horror story thriller.” In our modern times of genetic engineering, cloning, and bio-terrorism, the book delves into relevant questions like, “What does it mean to be human?” “What responsibilities do we have to each other?” “How far can we go in tampering with Nature?” So not only is the book the forerunner of horror and science fiction genres, it is a commentary on society, human feeling and emotions. The reason I have chosen to discuss Frankenstein is because the Santa Barbara Public Library system (which includes all libraries throughout the Santa Ynez Valley) has picked the book for this years’ 17th annual Santa Barbara Reads Program, which will include discussions and lectures throughout the year. The program offers one title to the community with the hope that e

SFPA announces 2018 Elgin Award winners for poetry books

New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/sfpa-announces-2018-elgin-award-winners-for-poetry-books/ - MINNEAPOLIS (Sept. 26, 2018) — The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) has announced the winners of the 2018 Elgin Awards, presented for the best poetry chapbook and the best full-length poetry book in the speculative genre. The Elgin Awards are named after the founder of SFPA, Suzette Haden Elgin. In the category of Best Full-Length Collection, the winners were: First Place: Liberating the Astronauts, Christina M. Rau (Aqueduct) Second Place: Satan’s Sweethearts, Marge Simon & Mary Turzillo (Weasel) Third Place: Love Robot, Margaret Rhee (The Operating System) In the category of Best Chapbook, the winners were: First Place: A Catalogue of the Further Suns, F.J. Bergmann (Gold Line) Second Place: Astropoetry, Christina Sng (Alban Lake) Third Place: The Terraformers, Dan Hoy (Third Man) The Science Fiction Poetry Association offers 3 annual awards for speculative p

The Bookshelf: Dartmouth To Host Inaugural Speculative Fiction Awards

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/the-bookshelf-dartmouth-to-host-inaugural-speculative-fiction-awards/ - Speculative fiction is all about the world that could be. It takes cues from science fiction and fantasy. From H.G. Wells to Margaret Atwood, authors have been following the trajectory of technology and cultural trends, turning their fictions into predictions and in some cases warnings. On Monday, Dartmouth College is hosting the first Neukom Literary Arts Awards ceremony , which celebrates new works of so-called ‘spec-fic.’ Dan Rockmore is director of the Neukom Institute for Computational Science. NHPR’s Peter Biello spoke with Rockmore about the four winning authors. [This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.] Listen to the broadcast version of this story. Before we get into the winners and what they were writing about, let me ask you to talk a little bit about speculative fiction and its predictive abilities. You have written in other venues, for example,

Sci Fi TV Listings for the Week of October 1st: Premieres for The Man in the High Castle S3, Doctor Who S11, Star Trek ...

New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/sci-fi-tv-listings-for-the-week-of-october-1st-premieres-for-the-man-in-the-high-castle-s3-doctor-who-s11-star-trek/ - [unable to retrieve full-text content]Source: https://www.cancelledscifi.com/2018/09/30/sci-fi-tv-listings-for-the-week-of-october-1st-premieres-for-the-man-in-the-high-castle-s3-doctor-who-s11-star-trek-short-treks-and-more/

"Armageddon"-style asteroid will now not destroy human race, sorry

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/armageddon-style-asteroid-will-now-not-destroy-human-race-sorry/ - This post is part of Science of Sci-Fi , Mashable ‘s ongoing series dissecting the science (or lack of science) in our favorite sci-fi movies, TV shows, and books. Some days are so damaging to your faith in humanity, you may find yourself idly wishing for the cleansing global firestorm that would follow an impact from the kind of asteroid that killed off the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If that’s the case, then astrophysicist and planetary scientist Michael Busch has some bad news. Over the last couple of decades, telescope-watchers like him have done such a good job of detecting and tracking the orbits of all possible extinction-level rocks out there that we can now say with confidence that none will hit us, at least not in the next 860 years.  “We think we’ve discovered everything out there that’s larger than 1 km across,” Busch, who has been tracking asteroids since 2005, t

Cinema heads into the future at warp speed but remains anchored in the present

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/cinema-heads-into-the-future-at-warp-speed-but-remains-anchored-in-the-present/ - PUBLISHED: 17:13 27 September 2018 Andrew Clarke The enduring appeal of Frankenstein is that science and the use of electricity can overcome death. Photo: Universal Archant Cinema has had a long-lasting love affair with science and science fiction. These tales of tomorrow often address present-day concerns. Arts editor Andrew Clarke goes Back to the Future Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Sulu (George Takai) from the original series of Star Trek so beloved by fans. Photo: Paramount Ever since Georges Méliès fired a shell into the eye of The Man In The Moon in his experimental 1902 film, Le Voyage dans La Lune (A Trip to the Moon), cinema has been in love with science and more importantly science fiction. The telling of these fantastical tales has challenged film-makers to tell stories in more imaginative and inventive ways and pushed

Is a novel worth reading just because it"s on the Man Booker Prize shortlist?

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/is-a-novel-worth-reading-just-because-its-on-the-man-booker-prize-shortlist/ - Once an author has won the Man Booker Prize, all their subsequent novels are automatically considered for the prize in coming years. But other writers must hope to be one of the two nominations each publishing imprint is allowed to put forward – or be one of those called in by a member of the jury. This usually makes the Booker a one-step forward, two-steps backwards kind of prize – occasionally championing an unusual, deserving novel or two in the longlist before pushing safer, more predictable choices towards the final stretch. Of the twenty winners between 1997 and 2017, nine have been historical fiction. It’s not that those novels didn’t deserve recognition and readership, but just that the Booker’s seemingly broad scope (novels in English published in the UK and Ireland by authors of any nationality) ultimately rewards certain kinds of writing more than others. Th

thrust vectoring mechanism thrust vectoring nozzle design

New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/thrust-vectoring-mechanism-thrust-vectoring-nozzle-design/ - [unable to retrieve full-text content]Source: http://elevenmyanmar.com/czI4NDIyNw

Possible, Not Alternative, Histories: A Literary History Emerging from Sunlight

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New Post At https://sciencefiction.site/possible-not-alternative-histories-a-literary-history-emerging-from-sunlight/ - SEPTEMBER 30, 2018 This essay is excerpted from Amit Chaudhuri’s The Origins of Dislike , out this month from Oxford University Press. ¤ I’M LOOKING BACK at the title to remind myself of what it is. “Possible, not alternative, histories.” I want to do something here that’s reckless because it’s very ambitious. I want to tell you about my reading. And, in the process, I wish to describe or allude to glimpses or hiccups or revisions that are germane to a discussion on reassessment. And also talk about not only my history, but a possible literary history. By “possible” I don’t mean a history that doesn’t exist, but possible ways of looking at history. I also wish to distance myself from the term “alternative history”: it feels exhausted. Certainly, if somebody of my ethnic and cultural background spoke about it, they’d inevitably do so with a particular inflection and