Totally—and that's what kind of worries me! If we ever did make contact, SF would have to change dramatically, and first contact books might become irrelevant, or would have to account for new realities. Like we would say to ourselves, "We were so wrong." It's one of those SF things where it would be awesome if it…

I'm afraid I haven't read those—thanks for the recommendation! I am working my way through some books by Clarke (Did not read the City and the Stars until recently, loved it), Bester, and Simak at the moment based on word from io9. I also absolutely love Babylon 5. So much to read, and the list keeps getting longer!

Forgive me, but space! AI! Or more generally, ambitious projects with soul (I like movies and shows that wrestle with big ideas, more so than things that are well-executed but in my opinion sort of shallow.)

The Manjoo article indicates that he ate Soylent for most but not all of his meals for 1.5 weeks. I must admit that this is the first time I have heard of Soylent, but can we ask whether that is representative of the way Soylent will be consumed by people? If people use it as an on-the-go breakfast a few times a week…

Awesome! Can I submit something for publication just to thank them? Or would a novella about an Internet commenter who submits a novella to a new science fiction imprint, and gets it published, be too weird and meta?

I just learned that The Wave in Arizona is also the result of differential erosion.

It was the thin Plexiglass roof for me!

Just wanted to chime in and say thanks—your articles are consistently eye-opening and inspiring. It strikes me as unjust if this were to be your last week because of falling short of some arbitrary number. Sure hope you stay on—good space science coverage is fundamental to io9 in my opinion. Thanks for your hard work…

Speaking as a layperson, it strikes me as the sensible thing to keep Spitzer running (as long as possible) given the delays that have beset the launch of the Webb telescope. Especially if Spitzer is still operational and capable of fulfilling its purpose. Why cut a veteran MVP from the team when the talented new…

My family and I have been re-watching B5 because it's our favorite thing ever, and we plan on watching Dallas Buyers' Club tomorrow.

[Spoilers] If Hollywood ever adapts this—one of my favorites—let's hope it preserves that sense of humility in facing something so awesome, so unknowable, and ultimately so indifferent. In my opinion, violent conflict resolution (exploding the bomb at the end, or fighting the biots) would violate the spirit of the…

Welcome and congrats on your graduation and promotion! Personally I would enjoy more posts on interesting things in math, but if that is not up your alley that is totally cool. It might also be cool to analyze different legal systems/issues in SF by selecting certain episodes or movies every week (eg Data's legal…

I cannot help but think that our culinary adventures in the far future will involve large quantities of insects, nutritional yeast, and Vegemite. Not that there is anything with that. Sort of like the food mines in Gateway. Also, let's hope that Jovian seasoning refers to sea salt from Ganymede and not sulfur dust…

For any folks who might be wondering about alternatives to rat poison, personally I have used glue traps and they worked just fine. There are even glue traps out there that enclose the rat or mouse and thus do not require physically touching the animal to dispose of it. When used with the right precautions, it appears…

So theoretically what would happen if you got a big MRI machine, let's say in the shape of a jellyfish, launched it and turned it on right when a solar wind hit? Would it deflect the ionizing radiation and create a silhouette in the borealis? Just an uneducated flight of fancy, if I may.

Personally I have always admired the ambition of Christopher Nolan's films. Their psychological complexity and operatic qualities distinguished them from movies that were in my opinion well-executed but sort of shallow. To me, there is a soul to his movies, and though that might be a bit obscured by Hollywood action…

Greer's account of the raids in Britain got me thinking about Arthur C. Clarke. Greer exclaimed "The sky was on fire," to illustrate the illusion of a beautiful sunset in a city beseiged by the war.

My exact thought during that scene was "No, not the banana nut!" I do not usually espouse violence but it would have been nice to see Shaw take a bite of one and then stuff it in the guy's mouth to keep him quiet. But oh, the tragedy, there but for the grace of God go the muffins.

Layperson here—any idea what level of salinity is suggested here? Either way, the existence of halophile organisms, which can survive in environments that contain 10 more times the concentration of salts as ocean water, offers hope. Life in our oceans on Earth is already stratified, as the levels of nutrients and…

Dear Hubble, happy birthday! I just found this galactic rose for you. I know it must be lonely out there, but we love you very much and promise to take good care of you. You're probably getting jealous of all that James Webb talk...well, just know that you continue to be in our hearts and dreams and have accomplished…