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 47 4889

Articles from Beam Me Up

The Andromeda Strain is being developed as a miniseries 2007-07-15 18:15:00 From Blackfish publishing via SF Signals:Michael Crichton's first novel The Andromeda Strain has already spawned a decent movie version, directed by SF legend Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still The Haunting Star Trek: The Motion Picture) back in 1971. But now it's been snapped up by Ridley and Tony Scott who will produced a TV series of the story – the apocalyptic tale of an alien germ that comes to Earth and threatens to wipe out humanity. Planned as a four-to-six hour mini-series, it will be broadcast late next year on America's A&E network ...

Dwarf Star Gulps Giant To Form Supernova 2007-07-15 17:58:00 New research proposes the formation of type 1a supernovaScience Daily — A team of European and American astronomers has announced the discovery of the best evidence yet for the nature of the star systems that explode as type Ia supernovae. The team obtained a unique set of observations with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and the Keck I 10-meter telescope in Hawaii. The researchers were able to detect the signature of the material that surrounded the star before it exploded. The evidence strongly supports the scenario in which the explosion occurred in a double-star system where a white dwarf is fed by a red giant. (Credit: European Southern Observatory) ...

We are meant to be here! 2007-07-14 12:14:00 Nelson fired over an interesting article in Salon.comThe article concerns the argument among scientists that in the words of the late cosmologist Fred Hoyle who called the universe "a put-up job." Or princeton physicist Freeman Dyson (who proposed the Dyson sphere that is a common science fiction theme even today) has suggested that the universe, in some sense, "knew we were coming." British-born cosmologist Paul Davies calls this cosmic fine-tuning the "Goldilocks Enigma." Like the porridge for the three bears, he says the universe is "just right" for life. Many scientists hate this idea -- what's often called "the anthropic principle." They suspect it's a trick to argue for a designer God. Thanks Nelson, the article is VERY thought provoking. Click on the article title for more ...

Dogland and The Gospel of the Knife go CC! 2007-07-13 14:51:00 from Boing Boing via SFSignals:Will Shetterly has released two of his books under a Creative Commons License: Dogland and The Gospel of the Knife. ...

Top cop predicts robot crimewave 2007-07-13 12:02:00 Boing Boing first brought this to my attention. From "The Age.com"It seems that the head of the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty is telling is to be afraid, be very afraid.Technology such as cloned part-robot humans used by organised crime gangs pose the greatest future challenge to police, along with online scamming, Keelty says. Mr Keelty said scams had sprung up in online virtual worlds such as Second Life, where people can spend real money via credit cards to buy products such as virtual real estate and gifts."Policing that is going to be quite difficult," he said.Australian and UK police had also noticed a trend of internet pedophiles crossing into real life pedophilia, and were planning a joint operation in developing countries, he said."We are watching people in the virtual world convert what they are doing in the virtual world to travel to some of these countries where children are at risk," he said. ...

AS Fate Decrees by Denyse Bridger 8/15/07 2007-07-13 11:42:00 Announcing "As Fate Decrees"EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing would like to announce "As Fate Decrees" by Denysé Bridger which arrives August 15th 2007.Denysé Bridger is an award winning Canadian author whose writing will leave the reader wanting more. She is able to captivate the reader with each page and image as she sets up her main character, Amarantha, on a journey through challenges only found in myths and legends of the ancient Greeks.ABOUT AS FATE DECREESThe gods of ancient Greece must find a mortal champion to defend their fate. ...

A rare confluence of sci-fi and history 2007-07-11 12:54:00 Jay Garmon over at Geekend blog came up with a coincidence in the date July 11th.He writes:*Take a moment to recognize one of those odd historical coincidences that history occasionally *serves up: Today is the anniversary of both Cordwainer Smith’s birth and John W. Campbell’s *death. For those outside sci-fi literature, this date probably goes utterly unnoticed, but it *shouldn’t. These two men literally changed the course of not just science fiction, but history *itself.As you know Campbell was the editor of the pulp fiction mag Astounding Science Fiction (today known as Analog Science Fiction & Fact) from 1937 until his death on this date in 1971.and Cordwainer Smith's fiction well was vividly bizarre with an emphasis on psychological distortions and strange devices.click the title for more ... History

Happy anniversary to Skylab’s criminal record 2007-07-11 12:42:00 On July 11, 1979, the U.S. space station Skylab accomplished two feats: Re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, and wrack up a mild criminal record Down Under. It's well known that Skylab's decent from orbit was ummm less than perfect. The miss-calculated trajectory led to a barely controlled deorbit that sent Skylab into Australia’s Western regions. Specifically, the town of Esperance, which was blanketed with a light coating of miniscule Skylab debris — enough to earn the U.S. State Department a $400 fine for littering that — 28 years later — remains unpaid. ...

Telstar 1 Aniversary! 45th! 2007-07-10 13:43:00 Today is the 45th anniversary of Telstar I, America's first active telecommunications satellite.Launched in 1962, Telstar 1 wast the first satellite designed to transmit telephone and high-speed data communications. It was roughly spherical, was 34.5 inches (880 mm) long, and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg). Its dimensions were limited by what would fit in one of NASA's Delta rockets. Telstar was spin-stabilized, so its outer surface was covered by solar cells in order to always receive some power. The power produced was a relatively tiny 14W. Telstar was equipped with a helical antenna which received microwave signals from a ground station, then amplified and rebroadcast the signal. The broadcasts were made from a series of somewhat directional feed horns distributed around the satellite's "equator". The electronics switched which antenna was active as the satellite rotated. Telstar was placed in an elliptical orbit (completed once every 2 hours and 37 minutes), revolving at a 45 de ...

Life Elsewhere In Solar System Could Be Different From Life As We Know It 2007-07-06 13:52:00 from the online science magazine ScienceDaily we have an article that at first glance we (and I mean the hard science fiction geeks amonst us) would say uhhhhDUH! but its clear that alternative chemistry lifeforms have got to be addressed....and so:The search for life elsewhere in the solar system and beyond should include efforts to detect what scientists sometimes refer to as "weird" life -- that is, life with an alternative biochemistry to that of life on Earth -- says a new report from the National Research Council. The committee that wrote the report found that the fundamental requirements for life as we generally know it -- a liquid water biosolvent, carbon-based metabolism, molecular system capable of evolution, and the ability to exchange energy with the environment are not the only ways to support phenomena recognized as life. Presently there is the assumption that alien life would utilize the same biochemical architecture as life on Earth. This means that scientists ha ...

A Look at Some Upcoming SF/F Films 2007-07-06 11:59:00 John over at SF Signal, who I think is drinking way too much espresso, has put together a very funny impression of the upcoming science fiction and fantasy films. Here is a sample:Aliens vs. Predator - A sequel to the singular Alien vs. Predator.PROS: Aliens was good. Predator was good.CONS: The original Alien vs. Predator...not so much.BOTTOM LINE: I'll pass.Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She Vampires - Bruce Campbell reprises his role as an elderly Elvis Presley in this sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep.PROS: I liked Bubba Ho-Tep.CONS: Nothing as far as I can tell.BOTTOM LINE: They had me at "Bruce Campbell". At "She Vampires" I was already packing a suitcase and moving into the multiplex.The Dark Knight - The sequel to Batman Begins.PROS: It's Batman!CONS: I really, really must see the first film.BOTTOM LINE: Sure to be a huge hit. Everyone will rave about it and then I'll wanna go see it. Damn you, fanboys!Jurassic Park IV - The script is still being written, but you can be sure d ...

Hydrocarbons, Necessary For Life, Found On Saturn's Moon Hyperion 2007-07-06 11:44:00 NASA's Cassini spacecraft has revealed for the first time surface details of Saturn's moon Hyperion, including cup-like craters filled with hydrocarbons that may indicate more widespread presence in our solar system of basic chemicals necessary for life. Hyperion yielded some of its secrets to the battery of instruments aboard Cassini as the spacecraft flew close by in September 2005. Water and carbon dioxide ices were found, as well as dark material that fits the spectral profile of hydrocarbons. ...

Strange Horizons fund drive 2007-07-05 14:16:00 Strange Horizons — which has been bringing you short fiction, poetry, articles, columns, art and reviews, every week, for free, since September 2000 — is having its annual fund drive! Strange Horizons is run entirely by unpaid volunteers - so all your donations go into paying contributors and the upkeep of the site. And hey, if you donate, you could win a prize.for more information - log to http://www.strangehorizons.com/fund_drives/200707/main.shtml ...