Beam Me Up Science Fiction in the news,on tv,at the movies or in print. Whatever is of interest to you and to me is fair game. I also discuss cutting edge science that just might influence new sci-fi Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 13 5643

Articles from Beam Me Up

Jupiter increases risk of comet strike on Earth 2007-08-27 17:27:00 Contrary to prevailing wisdom, Jupiter does not protect Earth from comet strikes. In fact, Earth would suffer fewer impacts without the influence of Jupiter's gravity. A 1994 study showed that replacing Jupiter with a much smaller planet like Uranus or Neptune would lead to 1000 times as many long-period comets hitting Earth. This led to speculation that complex life would have a hard time developing in solar systems without a Jupiter-like planet because of more intense bombardment by comets. But a new study shows that if there were no planet at all in Jupiter's orbit, Earth would actually be safer from impacts. The contradictory results arise because Jupiter affects comets in two different, competing ways. Its gravity helps pull comet ...

Actor Robert Symonds Dies 2007-08-27 13:34:00 From SFScopeActor Robert (Barry) Symonds died of prostate cancer on 23 August 2007. Born on 1 December 1926, he was both a stage and film actor. His genre film roles include parts in: Mandroid (1993), C.H.U.D. II—Bud the Chud (1989), Rumpelstiltskin (1987), The Ice Pirates (1984), Superstition (1982), Demon, Demon (1975), and The Exorcist (1973). His genre television appearances include episodes of: Alias (2006), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1996), Quantum Leap (1991), Beauty and the Beast (1987), Knight Rider (1984), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974, 1978), Future Cop (1977), and Wide World Mystery (1975). ...

Robert J. Sawyer wins China's Galaxy Award for Most Popular Foreign Author 2007-08-27 13:19:00 SFScope reports that Canadian author Robert J. Sawyer won China's top science-fiction award, the Galaxy Award, in the category "Most Popular Foreign Author of the Year." The award, voted on by Chinese readers, was presented at the Chengdu International Science Fiction and Fantasy Festival on 26 August. ...

Infinity + to cease operations after 10 years 2007-08-27 13:09:00 Jason from SF Signals writesAfter 10 years, Infinity Plus, the science fiction website started by Keith Brooke (and later co-edited with Nick Gevers and then Paul Barnett) is calling it quits. Infinity Plus was publishing free online fiction before it was in vogue. The website is also a great resource for insightful reviews and commentary.Here is a link to Keith Brooke's parting words *Keith Brooke link* ...

Space-time Distorts Near Neutron Stars As Einstein Predicted 2007-08-27 12:51:00 Using European and Japanese/NASA X-ray satellites, astronomers have seen Einstein’s predicted distortion of space-time around three neutron stars, and in doing so they have pioneered a groundbreaking technique for determining the properties of these ultra-dense objects. Neutron stars contain the most dense observable matter in the universe. They cram more than a sun’s worth of material into a city-sized sphere, meaning a few cups of neutron-star stuff would outweigh Mount Everest. Astronomers use these collapsed stars as natural laboratories to study how tightly matter can be crammed under the most extreme pressures that nature can offer. Astronomers studied a spectral line from hot iron atoms that are whirling around in a disk just beyond the neutron star’s surface at 40 percent the speed of light. They found that the iron line is broadened asymmetrically by the gas’s extreme velocity, which smears and distorts the line because of the Doppler effect and beaming effects pre ...

Sanctuary episodes available online 2007-08-26 18:56:00 Back in February I posted a story about a Canadian based, Internet only science fiction program called Sanctuary. The show will star SG-1's Amanda Tapping. The show centers around creatures that cannot be explained by science. Tapping plays the role of Dr. Helen Magnus who is cursed with immortality after her dealings with these creatures.Well, I just found the site and if the show is anything like the promo, this is going to kick ass! There are several episodes available and its pay as you go. Each episode is 1.99 or 2.99 for HD episodes. ...

Galaxiki 2007-08-26 17:11:00 Have you heard about Galaxiki? Well neither had I until a short while ago. But if your into Sci-fi and story telling, this might just be the place for you!Here is what Galaxiki says about itself:Galaxiki is a web 2.0 community website for Science Fiction lovers and creative people.It's a virtual galaxy with stars, planets and moons that can be edited in a wiki-like manner.You can write your own stories in your solar system and / or visit other users solar systems and read their stories.Solar systems and stories are located in one single galaxy, which represents a complete fictional online world created and maintained by its community.Click on the article title or here for more information ...

Klingons Crossing the Delaware! 2007-08-26 16:55:00 This is so cool! Here is a Link to a reinterpretation by illustrator Leo Lingas of the classic painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware" by Emmanuel Leutze.Its called Klingons Crossing the Delaware. Thanks Boing Boing blog for the tip! lol.Click the graphic for a larger picture or click the article title to go to the original site. ...

Gaping hole found in universe 2007-08-26 00:00:00 A giant hole in the Universe is devoid of galaxies, stars and even lacks dark matter, astronomers said on Thursday. The void is nearly a billion light-years across and astronomers have no idea why it is there. Lawrence Rudnick writing in the Astrophysical Journal, with colleagues Shea Brown and Liliya Williams said they were examining a cold spot , and found the giant hole. "What we've found is not normal, based on either observational studies or on computer simulations of the large-scale evolution of the Universe," Williams said in a statement. The astronomers said the region even appeared to lack dark matter, which cannot be seen directly but is usually detected by measuring gravitational forces. ...

Night of the Living (micro) Dead 2007-08-23 10:00:00 Multi-million year old mini-Corpsicles are coming alive again! Researchers believe they have isolated eight million year old bacteria from core samples taken within Antarctic glacial ice--and have revived them!Frederik Pohl was the first to use the term corpsicle in his 1969 novel The Age of the Pussyfoot. The term--considered rather offensive by cryogenics supporters--combines 'corpse' with 'popsicle' a popular flavored ice treat, to describe human beings cryonically frozen in hopes that future human beings will be able to thaw them and bring them back to life. "Corpsicle" has since been used by other writers, including Robert Heinlein, Greg Bear, L. M. Bujold, Larry Niven and others.The organisms that researcher Kay Bidle of Rutgers University revived are single-celled, (hence 'mini-corpsicles') In vitro, they reproduce slowly (about 1/10th the speed of younger microbes) due apparently to aeons of ionizing radiation whacking their genes. Our planet's melting icecaps ...

Vibrations on the Sun may 'shake' the Earth 2007-08-21 19:36:00 What do dropped mobile phone calls, mysterious signals in undersea communications cables, and tiny tremors on the Earth have in common? They are all caused by vibrations on the Sun, according to one team of scientists. Churning motions inside the Sun produce various kinds of waves, similar to the rise and fall of waves on the surface of the ocean. These waves have periods of several minutes to several hours. In the mid-1990s, a team of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, scientists reported seeing fluctuations in the solar wind with periods in the same range. The researchers suggested that the solar vibrations were somehow imprinting onto the solar wind to produce the regular fluctuations. Now, Thomson's team says it has evidence that these modes not only travel through space in the solar wind, but also influence natural phenomena and human technologies on Earth. ...

Possible Closest Neutron Star To Earth Found 2007-08-20 13:55:00 From ScienceDaily:Using NASA's Swift satellite, McGill University and Penn State University astronomers have identified an object that is likely one of the closest neutron stars to Earth -- and possibly the closest. The object, located in the constellation Ursa Minor, is nicknamed Calvera, If confirmed, it would be only the eighth known "isolated neutron star" -- meaning a neutron star that does not have an associated supernova remnant, binary companion, or radio pulsations. What also makes this discovery unusual is that the object is not associated with any optical counterpart down to a very faint magnitude. According to Robert Rutledge of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, (who originally called attention to the source) there are no widely accepted alternate theories for objects like Calvera that are bright in X-rays and faint in visible light. Exactly which type of neutron star it is, however, remains a mystery. As Rutledge says, "Either Calvera is an unusual example of a ...

Make an edible robot hand! 2007-08-20 13:30:00 From make blog I found a video on how to make a robot hand out of all things cheese and veggies!No, it doesn't just look like a robot hand.....it really works! Click on the article title or here to watch the video. ...

Eureka & SG1 may have some faces in common 2007-08-19 23:26:00 From SyFy PortalIt seems the cast of SG-1 has already started branching out. Amanda Tapping (Samantha Carter)has moved over to Startgate Atlantis and others are taking on roles on some of the networks other programming. Michael Shanks, who played archaeologist Daniel Jackson for 10 years on the series, is set to enter the small town of “Eureka” as is his wife Lexa Doig. Doig, who is most known to genre fans as Rommie from “Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda,” as well as a recurring role on "SG-1" in the ninth and 10th seasons, will enter the series for a single episode, “Maneater,” playing a biologist who deals with sexual harassment cases for Global Dynamics. A week after her appearance on the series, her husband Shanks will take on the role of a suave artistic genius who discovers that one of his metal sculptures has been transformed into solid gold. The episode, “All That Glitters,” is set to air Sept. 25. ... Amp

Eureka & 2007-08-19 23:26:00 From SyFy PortalIt seems the cast of SG-1 has already started branching out. Amanda Tapping (Samantha Carter)has moved over to Startgate Atlantis and others are taking on roles on some of the networks other programming. Michael Shanks, who played archaeologist Daniel Jackson for 10 years on the series, is set to enter the small town of “Eureka” as is his wife Lexa Doig. Doig, who is most known to genre fans as Rommie from “Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda,” as well as a recurring role on "SG-1" in the ninth and 10th seasons, will enter the series for a single episode, “Maneater,” playing a biologist who deals with sexual harassment cases for Global Dynamics. A week after her appearance on the series, her husband Shanks will take on the role of a suave artistic genius who discovers that one of his metal sculptures has been transformed into solid gold. The episode, “All That Glitters,” is set to air Sept. 25. ... Amp