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Archive for January, 2010

If you liked Jack O´Neill´s zat gun in Stargate SG1, you can buy it on eBay when they go up for auction along with a lot of other props from Stagate SG1 and Stagate Atlantis. Since I am more of a fan of Atlantis, I might go for Ronan´s Wraith gun or even a ZPM ( too bad it really doesn´t work!) Anyway, I am sure there are plenty of fans who will want to buy these props and what a smart way to make money because as I have understood, the Stargate Franchise has always been very budget oriented and has tried to make the most out of each set for the least amount of money. I like that because it forces more creativity when you have limited money to work with.
Too bad the zat doesn´t work either, it would make a great deterrent to pick pockets and thieves.
Here is a link to the list of items for SALE.
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I found a video that talks about Hollywood remakes of classic science fiction movies, specifically for the year 2009. I think the studios do remakes because of budget constraints and the idea that if it worked once it will be good again with new technology applied into it. I hope that since most movies are being made with lower budgets due to the economic times, being made outside Hollywood, and in other countries, just maybe there will be original scripts written or movies made from current science fiction literature. I hope so because sometimes the original is the best and no matter how fancy the new version, the original cannot be beat, besides, I would like some fresh stories that make me think, I guess I want too much!

As I was writing about the end of the current space shuttle program, some thoughtful commenters were aware that political and financial times may impede any progress in the manned space program and private enterprise may be the next phase in space travel advancement. These thoughts reminded me of the movie Star Trek: First Contact (1996), in which the crew of the Enterprise travels back through time at the point when humans are about to make first contact. As described in the film, Earth had suffered through world war three which managed to wipe out a majority of the Earth´s population and world governments. This was in the year of 2063, according to the movie, the humans were living in encampment-like buildings, it all looked very humble, yet they had superior technological skills and Zefram Cochrane was the character who had the skills and ability to make the first warp spacecraft. He said his reasons were for money, not some noble cause to better humaity. From that point on, first contact is made and thus we have the beginning of the Federation.
The point in the summary of the movie is that society had to reach a point were people were on their own without the direction of government and doing things in a private and capitalistic manner that ends up being good for humans. The few people who remained had to cooperate, think for themselves, and find a way to survive and go on with life without depending on daddy government. When true capitalism is applied, you rise and fall on your own merit, there is no bail-out. I wish we could get to that point without going through all the pain and destruction, but if you listen to economists such as Marc Faber, Jim Rogers, and Max Keiser, you will see that the world is headed for very tough times. They all have videos on YouTube that are worth listening to, and yes we must have hope for a better future, but we must also be realists as well.

The final night flight for the space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled for the 7th of February 2010, but the year 2010 also marks the last of the space shuttle flights and thus end an era of the current space shuttle program which began flying and orbiting the Earth in 1981. The space shuttle Columbia made its first trip to outer space the 12th of April 1981 and I remember it as if it were yesterday. The flight was short, only two days, and the landing took place in California, I also remember the double sonic boom! It is amazing that these spacecraft have lasted so long and worked so hard, but it is long overdue that a new line of shuttle is created and put to work, thus the final flight is scheduled for the 31st of May 2010 and you can bet I will watch and feel a little nostalgic and yet look forward to the next generation of spacecraft named Orion which is expected to come into service in the year 2015. I look forward to that day! The design looks interesting and unique and I cannot wait to see it in action.You can read more HERE.

I found a video that highlights inconsistencies between the television series and the various movies made after Star Trek: The Next Generation ended. I caution you, this is only for the die hard fans of Star Trek, and especially TNG, but it is fun and hilarious if you are into Star Trek and find amusing mistakes they make in writing. When you have written so many episodes of dialogue, have several movies, then add to the mix a wide variety of writers, it would be difficult to keep track of such mistakes, but it is all in good fun!

First contact with alien creatures is the core of science fiction literature, movies, and television; and the kind of aliens we encounter range from benevolent beings to acid for blood reptilian-like monsters. While we love to read or watch science fiction aliens, scientists actually theorize what an alien life-form could look like and how we would react to an actual face to face meeting.
Scientists feel that there are two possibilities, one being we will visit aliens from the “neighborhood” or we will be in verbal contact with a more distant alien civilization.
The article explains that if we contact alien life in our solar system:
If first contact turns out to be within our solar system, then at least we have some prior knowledge about the available habitats. Several spots might be suitable for Earth-like life based on carbon biochemistry and using water as a solvent. The subsoil of Mars may be warm enough to host microbes akin to Earth’s bacteria, for example, and there could be larger beasts swimming in the watery oceans of some outer moons of the solar system – especially Jupiter’s moon Europa. There’s every chance that a deep aquatic ocean lies beneath Europa’s ice, stretching right down to the moon’s rock core, where volcanic vents pump out hot, nutrient-rich water.
Then the article goes on to explain how the aliens we talk to may exist:
And then there is the fact that in order to contact us, ET must be able to send and receive radio waves or laser beams, or use some other medium to reach across the light years. So either they are vast creatures that have evolved natural radio-wave organs to talk and listen to each other, or they have developed technology. For that, intelligence alone is not enough. “The thing that advances us as a species is that we are social,” says Schulze-Makuch. “One of us alone is not very smart – I’m so dumb I can’t even build a radio. It is by working together that we got on the moon.”
So message-sending aliens will probably have some form of society. It need not be anything like human societies, however. “There are meta-intelligences in the societies of bees and termites. I can imagine something like a termite or ant colony that gets really intelligent,” says Schulze-Makuch. This does not tell us, however, whether they will be furry, scaly or slimy. Even on Earth, clever brains come in a wide variety of packages: dolphins and primates, parrots and crows, sea otters, honey badgers, octopuses and squid.
If you love science fiction or just the idea of making contact with an alien species, I suggest reading the entire article, it is well worth the time, it will change your perception of what an alien is and how we might contact each other.Here is a link to the full article.

I found this story amusing about the characters of the television show “Criminal Minds” who like to quote science fiction and horror authors during the course of an episode. If you are a sci fi lover/nerd like myself, you can find science fiction in anything in life such as the economy, which lately seems like science fiction in terms of market numbers, data, and financial instruments, etc.; new technology in medicine can appear to be like a science fiction gadget, although I am still waiting for those cool bio scanners from Star Trek:TNG; at an airport you have body scans that can detect the smallest mole on your body, satellites orbiting the Earth which can range from harmless television signals to weaponry, and in general, life is so hi-tech it can feel a little science fiction-ish. Anyway, from a crime drama show here are some of the quotes that pop up:
Isaac Asimov
“In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.”—from the episode “The Uncanny Valley

George Orwell
“In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”—from the episode “Secrets and Lies”

G.K. Chesterton
“Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.”—from the episode “Seven Seconds”

Stephen King
“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”—from the episode “Masterpiece”
Here is the entire article.

A BASE jumper is an extreme sports enthusiast who loves to jump from Buildings, Antennae, Spans (bridges), and Earth, and this sport for obvious reasons is considered to be extremely dangerous. Why bring this up in a sci fi blog? Well, Felix Baumgartner is going to as close to outer space as possible and will then freefall in an attempt to break the sound barrier of 1236kph. From the article:
His stratospheric mission, Red Bull Stratos, will see Baumgartner break four world records — and provide important data to NASA scientists.
He said: “I want to push the limits of what is possible.”
Baumgartner will be dressed in a protective suit and flown to 120,000 feet in a pressurised capsule before making his jump.
He believes he will be able to break the speed of sound — 768mph — within 35 seconds.
His mission will help researchers document the effects of high-speed travel on the human body, and further explore mankind’s ability to travel at the edge of space.
Wow! This guy has guts or he is just plain crazy!! You can read more here.

I came across an awesome movie last night entitled “Anatomie,” a German movie about the experience of a German medical student and her gruesome discovery while attending Heidelberg Medical School. This horror film was interesting, well acted, and surprisingly medically accurate; I say surprisingly, because sometimes horror movies get the medicine wrong, but this was great! I also watched the movie in German and subtitled. I have always preferred to watch any movie in its original language and subtitled as opposed to dubbed because I like to hear the actor´s emotion and true voice, in my opinion, that is partly why they were chosen for the part, with dubbing, you are getting another actor´s interpretation of the original actor. I once watched Star Trek : TNG dubbed and the voice of Worf sounded so wimpy I could not stand to watch for more than 15 minutes of the show!
Anyway, if you like a good thriller this movie is for you and I recommend subtitled! Here is a clip in German, but you will get the idea.

I love this kind of story, the city in Canada named Vulcan will receive a visit from none other than Leonard Nemoy himself as he will also make an appearance at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. How cool would that be to live in a city named Vulcan, you could call yourself a Vulcan and get away with it on a daily basis!From the article:
“Great thing about Nimoy is that he’s a ‘face character’,” he said, explaining that if you see his face, you recognize him right away. “Leonard is almost like the godfather of the science fiction culture.”
Because it is such a unique event, people from all over are showing interest in making the trek to see Spock during the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, he added.
About 12,000 people are expected to come through the expo, but Foong thinks that could be shattered.
He also said that while there’s usually only one guest Star Trek actor at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, this year will have another guest. Brent Spiner, the actor who played Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation, is also scheduled to visit, said Foong.
Now that CBS recognizes the town of Vulcan as a licensed Star Trek destination, there are no longer concerns of copyright infringements.
“We are now the official Star Trek capital of Canada,” Dickens told the Advocate.You can read the ARTICLE here.
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