Signs of Gods
Reading Time: 4 minutes When people start to get mysterious spots and disappear, Jude becomes concerned, but all is not what it seems as he searches for the truth.
‘The Damned Place’ by Chris Miller
Reading Time: 4 minutes Chris Miller, with The Damned Place, has written a novel that deserves to launch beyond the trappings of indie horror and into the stratosphere.
Ten ‘Keys to Reality from Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek
Reading Time: 4 minutes To understand ourselves and our place in the universe, “we should have humility but also self-respect,” the physicist writes in a new book.
Scientists: Super AI will be beyond our control
Reading Time: 3 minutes While more progress is being made all the time in artificial intelligence, some scientists and philosophers warn of the dangers of an uncontrollable superintelligent AI.
The Wacky Fun Factory
Reading Time: 3 minutes The fun never ends at the Wacky Fun Factory. Even if you want it to.
Sci-fi legend Ursula K. Le Guin to get her own postage stamp
Reading Time: 2 minutes The U. S. Postal Service announced its new lineup of stamps for 2021, and sci-fi legend Ursula K. Le Guin is the latest addition to the Literary Arts series.
‘The Girl Who Owned A City’ Asks What Would Happen if Only Children Survived a Pandemic
Reading Time: 2 minutes Perhaps our contemporary crises brought it back into my mind, as the events of the book take place in the wake of a devastating pandemic that has swept across America, sparing only those under the age of twelve.
Nalo Hopkinson is first black woman and youngest winner of Grand Master award
Reading Time: 2 minutes Nalo Hopkinson is the first black woman to win the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award for her lifetime achievements in science fiction and fantasy writing.
Galactic Civilizations 3 is free from Epic this week
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Every Thursday, Epic offers a PC game for free. Yesterday that was Stardock Games’ Galactic Civilizations 3, a critically-acclaimed, popular game that’s like Sid Meier’s Civilization, but in space. Other differences include the fact that you can play the game in multi-player mode, battling your friends for control of the galaxy. That’s nice, considering that, …
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Science fiction builds mental resiliency in young readers
Reading Time: 5 minutes Reading science fiction and fantasy may help young people cope, especially with the stress and anxiety of living through the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Renna’s Crossing’ is a progressive, magical coming-of-age story
Reading Time: 4 minutes I just finished “Renna’s Crossing” by Geordie Morse and was surprised, and humbled, by the author’s approach to gender issues.
Don’t hold your breath for a real-life Matrix
Reading Time: 6 minutes If you’re hoping or fearing that new technology can put you in a Matrix-style virtual environment — it’s not happening in 2021, judging by what we saw at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show.
Dust
Reading Time: 18 minutes As artificial intelligence and nanotechnology are changing the way we wage war, some things will always stay the same.
Cli-fi short story contest offers $8,700 in prizes
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Grist, a publication that focuses on climate, sustainability and social justice has announced a contest for short stories that focus on climate change. Entry is free, the deadline is April 12, and the short stories should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words in length. “We’re embracing the opportunity to look beyond the confines of the …
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Fragments of energy – not waves or particles – may be the fundamental building blocks of the universe
Reading Time: 4 minutes Matter might not be made of particles or waves, as was long thought, butm more fundamentally, of fragments of energy.
28 ways to beat procrastination for writers
Reading Time: 22 minutes Have you ever stared at your screen or typewriter or notebook and couldn’t force yourself to write? I have, and here’s what I do to fix it.
Experts: Ethics a must in AI
Reading Time: 5 minutes Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming a part of our daily lives, both in the workplace and at home. Some AI experts are stressing the need to focus on making AI ethical and keeping it human friendly. Bias in programming, security concerns, and a lack of public knowledge about how AI works are all issues that …
Mermaids aren’t real – but they’ve fascinated people around the world for ages
Reading Time: 3 minutes Just because mermaids are not real does not mean they are not meaningful.
Best AI startups of 2020
Reading Time: 2 minutes The global artificial intelligence market is expected to grow by 46.2% from 2019 to 2025. That type of growth can’t be matched by almost any other industry in the world. Artificial intelligence solutions are particularly relevant for the IT, healthcare, automotive, and manufacturing sectors. However, practically all other businesses can find a use for this …
Five speculative fiction authors killing it on Instagram
Reading Time: 3 minutes Wondering what some of your favorite fantasy, horror, and sci-fi writers have been up to on Instagram? Here’s a short but sweet list of popular speculative fiction author’s Instagram accounts.
Major changes coming for the global space industry
Reading Time: 4 minutes A quiet revolution is taking place in the global space industry and its full impact on global space industry should be measured over the next decade.
3 questions I still have after watching ‘Wonder Woman 1984’
Reading Time: 3 minutes If you haven’t seen this excellent movie yet, go watch it on HBO Max, then come back. I’ll wait.
Pandemic bingewatch: Tony Shaloub is at his best when infected by space bugs in ‘BrainDead’
Reading Time: 4 minutes I came for Tony Shalhoub and I was not disappointed.
Behold
Reading Time: 8 minutes I’ve met countless souls over the years – rich and poor, young and old, across many different places and many different times, but never had I met anyone quite like him.
AI in 2020: Facial recognition discriminates against race and gender
Reading Time: 3 minutes One thing we learned from 2020 is not to trust AI facial recognition –it’s biased against race and gender.
AI expert: Don’t fear the robot apocalypse
Reading Time: 2 minutes With talks of large companies investing in AI weapons, brain-chips being developed to enhance soldiers, and the head of the British armed forces saying that robot soldiers could make up a quarter of the army by the 2030s, people might have some doubts about where this is all going — a recent survey citing twelve percent of Americans see the possibility of human extinction.
Companies to up use of AR, VR in 2021
Reading Time: 2 minutes Around 35 percent of businesses plan on implementing virtual or augmented reality technology in 2021 according to a recently published research report.
Hit Me
Reading Time: 6 minutes What good is being psychic if you can only predict someone’s coffee order or that their shoe will come untied? But our heroine’s normally mundane talent takes a dark turn when she realizes she’s going to be hit by a car. Will she survive? Can she change her fate?
Celebrate New Year’s Eve with a free virtual concert
Reading Time: 2 minutes Iceland will celebrate New Year’s Eve with a live and fully virtual concert with Northern Lights and fireworks guaranteed.
A Million Miles Away
Reading Time: 5 minutes The shack sits like the hollowed-out shell of a dead insect. The inner walls bleed with rotten wallpaper, and the floor is a gray slab, with a single window overlooking a black sea
Twinkle
Reading Time: 2 minutes A band of faeries endeavors to help a worthy little girl by doggedly placing wish opportunities in her path.
New app turns your room into a 3D workspace
Reading Time: 3 minutes You can now join virtual meetings in any location and see avatars of coworkers or friends. The VR and AR collaboration platform Spatial released a free AR app for iOS and Android last week. Instead of using a bulky and expensive VR headset, the platform now works with just a phone or tablet — though …
Report: VR revenue expected to reach $12.2 billion by 2024
Reading Time: 2 minutes Sales of virtual reality hardware and software will grow at double-digits rates over the next four years, according to a report by ARtillery Intelligence.
Siren Song
Reading Time: 16 minutes When a chain-smoking, foul-mouthed finned gypsy washes up in a small Oregon town, the acting Chief of Police finds herself becoming a reluctant mermaids’ rights activist.
The Greatest Mystery of the Universe
Reading Time: 4 minutes A scientist ponders the mysteries of dark matter — though it, and he, may not be what they seem…
Free Will in an Algorithmic World
Reading Time: 7 minutes In this brave new world, many of our choices aren’t choices at all.
Star Trek: Lower Decks: A refreshing take on a well-established franchise
Reading Time: 3 minutes I don’t consider myself a hard-core Trekkie by any means, but I sure have watched a lot of Star Trek. “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” or TNG, had its seven-season run when I was just a kid and I watched almost every episode as I was growing up, often with family.
Space-based nuclear reactors a boon to thriller writers
Reading Time: < 1 minutes Yesterday’s directive promoting the use of nuclear power in space, including in low Earth Orbit, presents lots of interesting plot possibilities for thrillers.
Body language master list for writers
Reading Time: 6 minutes A very, very long list of ways to show emotion through body language or actions.
Where to find low-cost, pre-made covers for spec fic books
Reading Time: 10 minutes Pre-made book cover sites offer low-cost, professional-looking covers for independent authors.
House Keepers
Reading Time: 3 minutes When civilization begins to crumble, the 1 percent retreat to their summer homes.
72 Versions of Simon
Reading Time: 15 minutes Simon, a weak man who suffers from stomach pain and headaches, is afraid of everything–fog, insects, his boss. But all of his pain and fears disappear when Simon finds a whole new universe on his Peek device.
The Old Storms
Reading Time: 3 minutes The old storms have gone away, and a little wonder has gone out of the world with them. Can they be brought back?
The Angel of El Escorial
Reading Time: 8 minutes I concealed the marvel that we discovered in the foothills of Sierra de Guadarrama. That I kept it a secret is my greatest sin.
The Remover
Reading Time: 37 minutes In a world where vampires are evolved alongside humankind, one a vampire is experiencing a mid-life crisis which includes an unhealthy attachment to his long-dead wife, a struggle with his faith, and mental illness.
If Suddenly You Forget Me, Do Not Look for Me
Reading Time: 3 minutes With any experience in life, you have to take the good with the bad… unless you have the technology to sell either to the highest bidder.
Top 3 VR Headsets for Half Life: Alyx
Reading Time: 5 minutes Half Life: Alyx is the 2020\’s VR game of the year. If you want to play the game the best way, we’ve put together a guide to the best VR headset for Half Life: Alyx. What is Half Life: Alyx? Half Life: Alyx is a VR game built from the ground up for virtual reality. …