Mermaids have become a cultural phenomenon, and clashes about mermaids and race have spilled out into the open. This is most pointedly apparent in the backlash over Disney’s much-anticipated “The Little Mermaid.”
Imagine that a soldier has a tiny computer device injected into their bloodstream that can be guided with a magnet to specific regions of their brain. With training, the soldier could then control weapon systems thousands of miles away using their thoughts alone.
Quantum mechanics, the theory which rules the microworld of atoms and particles, certainly has the X factor. Unlike many other areas of physics, it is bizarre and counter-intuitive, which makes it dazzling and intriguing.
Fake photography is nothing new. In the 1910s, British author Arthur Conan Doyle was famously deceived by two school-aged sisters who had produced photographs of elegant fairies cavorting in their garden.
The combination of human creativity and the efficient functionality of AI will bring radical changes across the globe.
As an author, I’ve found grounding my science fiction in reality produces a more layered, immersive tale. Science fiction stories often occur in space. So, sci-fi readers and authors may appreciate this introduction to a relevant real-world organization, the United States Space Force, or USSF. The US Space Force Is No Joke Perhaps the first …
What I have a hard time believing is that a Reptilian would be clueless enough to think a wife wants to be woken up in the middle of the night to have sex with her husband.
The term “metaverse” was first coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. He used it to refer to an immersive, virtual reality world in which people are embodied as their avatars.
Emotional Truth from Odyssey Writing Workshops is a 5-week class that does a deep dive on techniques to heighten the emotional quality of your writing.
I never should have trusted him. Sure, he’s incredible with his fans. But I feel so betrayed.
While we still don’t have the flying cars, time machines, and holographic movies that sci-fi has long offered us, though other predictions have come to life, such as the Star Trek communicators that became Motorola flip phones. Today, virtual fiction is having its moment in the spotlight as the tech world leans into the metaverse.
The real history of stage magic in the 19th century was as hectic and violent as director Christopher Nolan portrays in The Prestige.
There is a troubling aspect to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In the first edition, the Oompa-Loompas are black pygmies who Wonka imports from “the deepest and darkest part of the African jungle” and enslaves in his factory.
It is hard to judge the effect that last year’s unequivocal confirmation of real UFO footage— captured by real navy pilots—has had on the common man or woman. But this new bill surely proves that the topic of UFOs has moved beyond the eye-rolling phase of the alien debate. Or does it?
The large and inhospitable sand dunes of the desert planet Arrakis are, of course, very prominent in both the books and film. But just how high would sand dunes be on a realistic version of this world?
The occult has made a strong comeback with gen Z.
You, too, can smell like a witch. Magic and scent were linked in ancient Greece and Rome, and today, you can buy scents that can make you smell like Hermione, Hecate, and other famous witches of literature and history.
Seven visions for the metaverse we’ve been hearing about.
Three scientists set out to determine if it were possible for humans to survive on a planet like Dune. They say yes — but not where you’d expect from reading the book.
Earlier today, actor William Shatner — who played Star Trek’s iconic Captain Kirk on television and in the movies — became the oldest person to ever go to space and helped demonstrate that power of sci-fi to inspire space exploration.
What would lead someone to claim that a fantasy role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons was a recruiting tool for satan?
The cultural relevance of urban fantasy can be traced back to the time period of its birth — the early nineteenth century — where many were struggling to respond to industrial change and a new economic system.
These holograms, created with mirrors and jets of air, could be the first steps towards a Star Trek-style holodeck.
The Dark Souls videogame shares many elements with the literature of British artists in the Romantic era such as Lord Byron and others from the early 1800s.
Rehearsing the end of the world through film may have desensitized us, lulling us into a false sense of security that all will end well — and that we are immortal.
Romero’s professional ingenuity and powerful metaphors can inspire us during the pandemic.
Robert Stahl has analyzed some favorite horror films to present this list for your consideration.
The rap song “Whitey on the Moon” has new relevance with the recent space trips of billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos.
One of the most interesting tools for thinking about future defense technology isn’t big data forecasting and the use of synthetic training environments, but narrative and imagination. And we get this from science fiction.
The number of planets in the universe is truly astronomical — some are gas giants, like Jupiter in our solar system. Others may be water worlds or ice planets. And some are Earth-like.
New knowledge of quantum fractals could provide the foundations for scientists to experimentally test the theory of quantum consciousness.
NASA recently had to cancel a long-planned spacesuit because of the lack of a spacesuit in the right size. NASA, you broke our hearts.
To take on some of the biggest challenges of the next generation of astronomy, astronomers are turning to AI)to build new tools to rapidly search for the next big breakthroughs.
Denis Villeneuve’s adaption of Dune scheduled to be released this fall in theaters and on HBO Max, but the author’s life is a tale in and of itself.
Two Venus missions will be launched some time between 2028 and 2030, instead of missions to the moons of Jupiter and Neptune. What are we missing out on as a result?
Transhumanists predict that science will enable us to free our minds from bodily constraints. But these ideas actually date back to the 18th century.
More Black writers and artists are turning to science fiction — and an artistic movement known as Afrofuturism — to tackle issues around race and inequality and give fans an escape from the harsh realities on Earth.
If and when they eradicate humans, they would be better suited to space travel. In orbit, octopuses could maneuver much more easily and fit in smaller spaces.
When I arrived in Austria I had to complete a German language course before I could attend university, but I had trouble focusing in the online learning platform. Immersive virtual reality solved the problem.
Looking at least one decade into the future, I believe we will see significant advancements in three areas by 2030 as a result of AI — personal assistance devices, genomics, and space exploration.
The head of the US National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins had joined forces with Harvard University professor David Liu and others to tackle progeria, a genetic disorder that causes children to age rapidly.
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.
Reading science fiction and fantasy may help young people cope, especially with the stress and anxiety of living through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matter might not be made of particles or waves, as was long thought, butm more fundamentally, of fragments of energy.
Just because mermaids are not real does not mean they are not meaningful.
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.
One thing we learned from 2020 is not to trust AI facial recognition –it’s biased against race and gender.
In this brave new world, many of our choices aren’t choices at all.
Yesterday’s directive promoting the use of nuclear power in space, including in low Earth Orbit, presents lots of interesting plot possibilities for thrillers.
Last Friday, billionaire inventor Tony Stark — I mean, Elon Musk — showed off progress on his latest project, the Neuralink.
