geez....yes, mucker.

I scrolled rapidly through this list, agreeing with almost all submissions, but one name is still missing. Spider Robinson. His Crosstime Saloon stories are great examples of humorous science fiction; 'Satan's Children' demonstrates his serious chops. Don't think he gets the mentions or the credit he deserves.

Yes, yes, yes to Brunner's predictive talents. Why zerkers isn't a common word today I do not know.

The Moties from 'The Mote in God's Eye.'—they were physically specialized to meet the demands of their caste and I still think that Niven and Pournelle did the best job ever of describing the psychology of a non-human race.

I had a model rocketry class in 7th grade, back in the late 60s. Friend built one of those awesome Estes Saturn V models. Stood more than three feet tall; took him weeks to get it right. First launch—rocket slowly rose from the platform, just like the real thing, then turned 90 degrees and accelerated straight into…

You, DarthTurducken, are a bad fictional character/over-the-top-entree. Bad! #omgthatssuchagreatandterribleidea

I know—supposed to be fictional. But this one really flew—and tell me you didn't see those nacelles used in Princess Amidala's ship....

Best superhero theme song, too.

My father worked in PR at Boeing in the late 60s. One Saturday, he asked us to put on our Sunday School clothes so we could go in and be the 'passengers' for a Japan Airlines TV commercial, being shot in Boeing's 747 mockup. IIRC, it was a three-four-three configuration, but the seats weren't as fancy, and the…

So, there will be electricity after the apocalypse? Good to know. Hope that Mr. Coffee (where is truth in advertising when you need it?) model can do everything better than make coffee—cause they flat out suck at that.....

Paul Souders (no L) is the photographer of the 'Water Bear.'

And saying "E T soo-DA, Vladimir!" sounds so much cooler than "come here, Vladimir."

Ditto the eulachon or hooligan, a smelt found in the Pacific.

Cheetos are great fire starters. My brother-in-law tests various things for their suitability as emergency fire starters; Cheetos are at the top of his list. Fried are better than baked.

When we were six, my then girlfriend always made me play Napoleon Solo, but I really wanted to be Illya Kuryakin.

Space Ghost. Cool multi-function power bands. Coolest ship.

Side A of the 1977 LP contained four original songs based on Matthews' (not South African Dave Matthews) take on Frank Herbert's 'Dune.' Side B had the theme song to 'Silent Running,' a jazzy cover of Bowie's 'Space Oddity,' and a couple of tunes from 'Star Wars.' Great CTI lineup—Grover Washington Jr., Eric Gale,…

Though a species that calls its leader "The Hindmost" would seem to have embraced, shall we say, excessive caution, for a large portion of its existence.

RE: Pierson's Puppeteers—their mouths have finger-like knobs that they use to manipulate objects. They're also expert at manipulating other races to do the heavy lifting for them.

NPR had a story yesterday regarding the TALOS project—Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit: http://tinyurl.com/lfoulyo