Topics
ENTERTAINMENT: Is Oasis Science Fiction?
Amazon has rolled out a pilot for a new science fiction series called Oasis, based on the novel The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. Unfortunately, I have not read the novel. The novel’s description barely sounds like what unfolded in the pilot. Readers compare the book to A Case of Conscience or A Canticle for Leibowitz, while I thought of Solaris while watching the TV show. Because we’ve only seen the 59-minute pilot, there’s no telling where the show will go, but I hope it incorporates more of the book – The Book of Strange New Things … Read more
SPACE: That’s One Dusty Galaxy You Have There
Astronomers hate dust as much as the rest of us ― even more, perhaps. It’s one thing to get a little dust in your eye that takes your vision out of focus. Now imagine this kind of dust problem on a galactic scale where it hinders scientists trying to focus their telescopes into space. That’s part of the challenge faced by researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, reports Space.com. They’re creating an instrument that will offer specific information on how fast the universe is growing. This device ― the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument ― will create a … Read more
TECH: My Flying Car is Almost Here V2
The flying car stories are flying thick and furious these days. ;) Flying taxis and other futuristic passenger vehicles are about to take a giant leap out of science fiction and into reality. It’s not exactly the vision of the “Back To The Future” film trilogy, which predicted that by 2015 we’d fill the skies with flying cars and get around on personal anti-gravity hoverboards. But it turns out the movies may have just been a few years off. Singapore plans to have airborne cabs taking flight by 2030, according to the island city-state’s Business Times daily newspaper. Singapore’s Ministry … Read more
ENTERTAINMENT: Gandalf Returns
Sir Ian McKellen is to bring Gandalf, his most iconic film role, to the stage for a new one-man show. The veteran actor will bring the wizard to life for a nine-performance charity run at London’s Park Theatre. Funds raised will go towards the upkeep of the small 200-seat theatre in Finsbury Park. He will also resurrect other famous characters from his 50-year career, such as Macbeth. It will have an interactive element, with its star inviting the audience to ask questions and act with him. The show is called Shakespeare, Tolkien, Others & You is already sold out – although the … Read more
SCIENCE: If Spiders Ate Humans…
Spiders ― those eight-legged, hairy, creepy-crawling, poison-fanged, silk-spinning arachnids ― are often the stuff that nightmares and horror movies are made of. Spiders primarily eat insects, with the exception of some larger spider species that have hearty appetites for a good lizard or bird or small mammal. But Washington Post reporter Christopher Ingrahamexplored a disturbingly intriguing dilemma this week ― if spiders ate human beings, how many would they eat? The matter came up because earlier this month, European biologists Martin Nyffeler and Klaus Birkhofer published a paper in the journal Science of Nature, estimating the total weight of prey … Read more
Me Me Monday!
Welcome to M3: ME ME MONDAY at our FB discussion group – your chance to pop in and tell us about your latest success. Have a new book or short story coming out? Let us know. Just sell something? Let us know so we can cheer you on. HOW IT WORKS: I’ll pin this topic to the top of our FB discussion page for the day. –Please post your announcement as a separate post so we can comment on yours specifically –Check out the other posts and congratulate and share them too! And congratulations!!!
U=(N/T)M*G: Plague
You say the word plague, and most people’s eyes light up with horror or interest. Because, despite numerous plagues over the course of human history, only one really springs to mind with that one word. One that doesn’t need an introduction. I’m talking about the Black Plague. The Black Death, in and of itself, has had its day in a wide variety of books of both fiction and nonfiction types, even stretching into urban legends to this day. The horror of this disease is well known and used to great effect. As Ducky in NCIS once told us “The infected … Read more
PEOPLE: Star of The Walking Dead Comes Out
A star of The Walking Dead has come out as gay. Daniel Newman, who has also appeared in The Vampire Diaries and Sex and the City, has addressed fans in a touching video message after deciding to be open about his sexuality after being mistaken as straight by a young LGBTI person. He had been volunteering at a homeless shelter for queer youth and was asked why he wasn’t out in public when he ‘could reach so many people’. ‘It hit me like a gut-punch,’ Newman said. ‘It felt like someone had knocked the wind out of me. I realized … Read more
ENTERTAINMENT: Disney Princes Become Queens
What would happen if Disney princes hung up their swords and boots for sequins and blush? You don’t need to imagine it, as one artists has created 10 incredible mash ups of Drag Race and Disney. Isaiah Stephens, posting on his Tumblr, wrote: ‘I personally think that Rupaul’s Drag Race is one of the best shows on television. To see what some of these queens can do is simply incredible. You don’t have to be gay or a woman to appreciate talent. What these contestants can do with just makeup and wit is pure magic. And what’s more magical than Disney?! … Read more