This reminds me of my response to Spielberg's "War of the Worlds", which seemed to require the total obliteration of millions of families specifically to give Tom Cruise an opportunity to prove to his *own* family that he wasn't a douchebag.

Very nice to see James Oberg's "New Earths" get a mention here. Classic little book.

I'd seen the movie back in '77 and was so distracted by the awfulness I didn't notice the soundtrack at the time. But seeing it again today, I have to agree — it really is something. I believe I'd actually pay money for it.

Anything by Frederick Pohl, I find, is almost always a pick-me-up, even when the subject matter is serious (which it usually is). Pohl's writing style has a jaunty energy that really puts me in a good mood.

You're not the only one.

I remember doing experiments like this with my own aquarium, a Super-8 camera, and milk and food dye back when I was a kid, around nine or ten. Great fun!

I am really, really impressed with this. Unlike the vast majority of science fiction films released in recent years, this actually feels like science fiction. It makes the sharp point that a space elevator, as a key access point to the flow of goods and wealth, could easily become a center of wealth disparity, black…

I do actually agree that this is a children's show. But I also think it's plain that this was not a suicide pact, as neither Amy nor Rory "intended to die." They were risking death, but they do that in every "Who" episode. As in all those other episodes, the point was to end up alive and victorious.

The implacability with which the insect is slowly drawn into the mouth of the plant by the glue-tentacles is true nightmare fodder.

Who's skipping? You see a picture of a big white whale, you think of Moby Dick.

Very good article — but its credibility would be enhanced if Samuel Delany's name was spelled correctly.

Epic large-scale space fleet battles, yes. Dogfights, no.

Don't forget the biggest one of all: the space dogfight! We first saw this in "Space Battleship Yamato" back in 1974.

"scientific progression has stalled completely this past decade"

That has got to be the most likable guy ever.

Ha! I certainly identify with that experience. Well-described!

The ever-sexy Samuel R. Delany's 4-volume "Neveryon" series got increasingly explicit with each successive volume.

Interesting history in relation to this: part of the reason (there were several) that the Nunavut territory came into existence back in the '90s was to establish more firmly Canada's land-based and maritime boundaries in the north.

Particularly when you add the sexism.

The issue, of course, is the "exotic matter" needed to power the drive. That's what pushes this whole discussion back into the realm of pure speculation. However, if they can demonstrate the existence of the effect itself on microscopic levels, as their experiment seems to be designed to do, that would, all by…