Tag: Science Fiction
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NASA names Perseverance rover landing site on Mars after Seattle sci-fi pioneer Octavia E. Butler
An image sent back to Earth by NASA’s Perseverance rover shows the tread tracks left behind by its first drive on Mars on March 4. (NASA / JPL-Caltech) Fifteen years after her death, Seattle science-fiction author Octavia E. Butler has joined an exclusive pantheon of space luminaries memorialized on Mars. Today NASA announced that the…
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Star Trek’s George Takei tweaks President Trump over Space Force’s trekky new seal
The seal for Star Trek’s fictional Starfleet Command has some design elements in common with the seal for the U.S. Space Force. (CBS / Space Force Images via Twitter) We don’t know whether Mr. Spock would have cocked an eyebrow over the Starfleet-like U.S. Space Force seal that was revealed by President Donald Trump today,…
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How the cloud helps lift ‘The Expanse’ and other science fiction epics out of this world
Engineer Naomi Nagata (played by Dominique Tipper) watches a projectile whiz past her in an episode of “The Expanse.” Mavericks VFX was responsible for the whiz. (Mavericks VFX Photo) It used to take a cast of thousands to create cinematic extravaganzas, but now the job can be done with a cast of dozens of artists…
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Not so far, far away: How the Star Wars galaxy falls short of the real-life search for planets
Luke Skywalker’s home planet, Tatooine, and its two suns are a good example of science echoing Star Wars. Or is it the other way around? (Lucasfilm Photo) Over the past 42 years, filmgoers have seen exotic worlds come to life in a succession of Star Wars movies — a series that is now coming to…
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Blue Origin video traces the virtuous circle between real-life spaceflight and ‘The Expanse’ on video
Cas Anvar, who plays a Mars-born spaceship pilot on “The Expanse,” tries out the seats inside a mockup of Blue Origin’s New Shepard crew capsule, with Ariane Cornell, Blue Origin’s director of astronaut and orbital sales, as his guide. (Amazon Prime Video via YouTube) If “The Expanse” ever decides to shoot episodes of the science-fiction…
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Who’s the best Star Trek captain? Alexa agrees with Jeff Bezos when Picard drops in on Amazon HQ
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Patrick Stewart, who plays Captain Jean-Luc Picard in a new Star Trek streaming series, share a laugh during Stewart’s visit to Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. (Jeff Bezos via Instagram) When the actor who plays the boss’ favorite Star Trek captain drops in at the office, it’s best to agree with the…
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Vonda N. McIntyre, 1948-2019: Final novel adds to Seattle science-fiction star’s legacy
Vonda McIntyre, 1948-2019. (SFWA Photo) Vonda N. McIntyre, a leader of Seattle’s science-fiction community who made her mark with “Star Trek” novels as well as the Clarion West Writers Workshop, has passed away at the age of 70. McIntyre was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer eight weeks ago — but she managed to complete her final…
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Jeff Bezos’ worlds collide: Cast of ‘The Expanse’ visits Blue Origin’s space turf
Cara Gee, who plays a tough-as-nails spaceship captain on “The Expanse,” takes a seat in a mockup of Blue Origin’s New Shepard crew capsule. “No one asked me to wear this helmet on our tour of the facility,” she tweeted. “But here I am in a real life space chair.” (Cara Gee via Twitter) Science…
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For UFO fans, History Channel’s ‘Project Blue Book’ show rings all too true to life
“Project Blue Book” turns some of the best-known UFO tales into a TV series, starring Aidan Gillen as investigator J. Allen Hynek. (History Channel Illustration) “Project Blue Book,” the History Channel TV series making its debut tonight, takes its inspiration from classic UFO cases of the 1940s and 1950s — but for UFO fans who…
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Fascinating! Astronomers spot super-Earth orbiting Mr. Spock’s fictional home star
An artist’s conception shows a super-Earth in orbit around HD 26965, which is Mr. Spock’s home star in “Star Trek” lore. (University of Florida Illustration) Has the planet Vulcan been found? Vulcan’s most famous fictional inhabitant, Mr. Spock of “Star Trek” fame, would certainly raise an eyebrow if he heard that astronomers have detected a…