Tag: Science Fiction
-
Artificial intelligence is going full circle — from fiction to science, and back again
A teenager is left in charge of a Mars base in one of “The Year’s Top Hard Science Fiction Stories.” (Illustration by Maurizio Manzieri / Infinivox) Artificial intelligence has had an effect on nearly every facet of modern life — ranging from diagnosing diseases, to applying for a job, to deciding which movie to watch. Now it’s reaching…
-
What if the aliens win? That’s the subject of a new saga from creators of ‘The Expanse’
Ty Franck and Daniel Abraham are the authors of the books in “The Expanse” series, under the pen name James S.A. Corey. Their newly published novel, “The Mercy of Gods,” kicks off a whole new trilogy. Franck and Abraham will be at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Wash., on Saturday. (Kyle Zimmerman Photo)…
-
How Seattle science-fiction pioneer Vonda N. McIntyre blazed a trail for diversity
Seattle author Vonda N. McIntyre’s science fiction reflected an imaginative view of other worlds. (Illustration: SFWA / Microsoft Copilot / Media.io) Decades before the current debates over gender and sexuality, the late Seattle science-fiction writer Vonda N. McIntyre flipped the script on those subjects. “In many of her stories, there are characters that, by the…
-
Fictional plans for building a space station beyond the moon reflect Jeff Bezos’ vision
“Critical Mass” traces the construction of a huge space station just beyond the moon. (Illustration for Dutton / Penguin Random House) If Jeff Bezos needs a blueprint for building a space station beyond the moon with ore from an asteroid, he just might want to start with “Critical Mass,” a newly published sci-fi novel by Daniel Suarez. The…
-
Science fiction focuses on the far future of terraforming, with a tie-in to today’s cities
An artist’s conception shows a city taking shape on Mars. (SpaceX Illustration) Billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos dream of making Mars more like Earth, or seeing millions of people living and working in space — but could such dreams ever be turned into reality? In a new novel titled “The Terraformers,” science…
-
How the Star Trek saga blazed new trails for space exploration — with a hand from superfan Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos celebrates after his Blue Origin spaceflight in 2021, at left, and plays it cool as a Starfleet officer in the 2016 film “Star Trek Beyond.” (Photos: Blue Origin / Paramount via Justin Lin) Over the course of five decades, advances in space science and exploration have changed the Star Trek saga — but…
-
‘Last Exit: Space’ highlights the questions and the quirkiness behind billionaire visions of leaving Earth
An artist’s conception shows a starship on a 5,000-year trip. (Jörgen Engdahl / Courtesy of Discovery+) Amazon founder Jeff Bezos wants to have millions of people living and working in space — that’s why he founded his Blue Origin space venture more than two decades ago. But what if living in space turns out to…
-
Bad moon falling: Geophysicist adds her own scientific spin to ‘Moonfall’ movie
“Moonfall” features a resurrected space shuttle and an ominously looming moon. (Courtesy of Lionsgate) Even geophysicist Mika McKinnon, one of the science consultants for a $140 million disaster movie called “Moonfall,” admits that the moon-crashing tale is ridiculously exuberant. But what’s wrong with that? “A movie is supposed to be fun, and science is allowed to be fun,”…
-
How the ‘Dune’ science-fiction saga parallels the real science of Oregon’s dunes
Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson star in “Dune,” a movie based on sci-fi author Frank Herbert’s book. The tale draws in part upon Herbert’s experiences in the Pacific Northwest. (Warner Bros. Photo) The deserts of Abu Dhabi and Jordan play starring roles in the blockbuster sci-fi movie “Dune,” which premieres this week in theaters and…
-
Bezos vs. Branson vs. Musk: A reality check on the billionaire space race — and space station sci-fi
Blue Origin suborbital spaceflier Mark Bezos throws a ball to Oliver Daemen in zero-G while Wally Funk floats above in the New Shepard capsule. (Blue Origin Photo) The state of commercial space travel is changing so quickly that even science-fiction authors are struggling to keep up. That’s what Time magazine’s editor at large, Jeffrey Kluger, found…