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Cosmos on Hulu
All 13 episodes are available for free, just in case you haven’t heard the word “billions” enough lately. In 1980, the landmark series Cosmos premiered on public television. Since then, it is estimated that more than a billion people around the planet have seen it. Cosmos chronicles the evolution of the planet and efforts to…
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Saturday Morning Watchmen
What if “unfilmable” graphic novel The Watchmen couldn’t get off the ground as a movie and was instead turned into a cartoon? HappyHarry has the horribly, horribly plausible answer. Higher-resolution SWF and downloadable mp3 of the theme song(!!!) here. Lyrics: Strong together, united forever They’re the best of friends But when troubles about, you’d best…
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Science Fiction vs. Science
The BBC asked authors Ken MacLeod, Paul Cornell, Iain Banks and Ian Watson whether science fiction can keep up with modern science, and whether the genre needs to stay current with the latest breakthroughs in order to be relevant. They all give long and thoughtful responses to the question. My own thought is that it…
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The Strangest Thing You’ll See All Day
The Bangles’ “Going Down to Liverpool,” with an extended cameo by Leonard Nimoy. For no discernible reason. (via Francesco Explains it All)
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Hugo nominees for 2009
(Lookit John Scalzi – 3 nominations! Wonder if that is a record?) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Anticipation: Press Release #20, March 2009 Hugo Nominees Announced Anticipation is pleased to announce the Hugo nominees for 2009. For more information about the award and the voting process consult our website http://anticipationsf.ca/English/Hugos The Hugo Award, first presented in 1953,…
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The SyFy Hatred Roundup
The Sci Fi Channel recently announced that it was changing its name to “SyFy,” and lo, there was much gnashing of teeth. The uniformity of the negative response to the decision is surprising: Virtually no one is saying, “Hey, great idea,” the most positive responses have been along the lines of, “Meh,”* and the negative…
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Science is Easy, Comedy’s Hard
Sometimes you can tell when it’s a slow news day. Newspapers start digging up stories about things like a sudden upswing in comedy routines involving science. “Physics can be hard for comedy,” he admits, “but biology is hilarious. It’s easier to make a joke about the sex lives of bonobo chimpanzees than it is to…
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Yeah, We Never Saw That Coming
A robot…designed to look like a pretty girl. (!!!) Cybernetic Human HRP-4C is a “fashion-bot” that will soon be strolling the catwalk in Tokyo. She’s been programmed to emulate 42 different “fashion model movements,*” and although she’s designed to look more or less like an average Japanese woman, her creators gave her slightly larger-than-normal eyes…
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SCI FI Channel to become Syfy
SCI FI Channel to become Syfy Siffy? A cutesy way of saying syphilis?? And how does Syfy relate to wrestling? I still think they should call themselves The Bad Monster Movie Channel. After next Friday, no more Battlestar Galactica. No new Stargate. Hell, they didn’t even keep the reruns of Eureka on there.
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Google Mars
:::sigh::: Can we just declare the Google guys the Supreme Overlords of Earth and get it over with? The latest version of Google Earth includes the ability to explore Mars. With Mars in Google Earth, you can: Be the first human being to view images downloaded by NASA just hours ago, in the Live from…