Tag: Science fiction | Page 4

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News
Date
February 22, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, fiction, GPT-3, OpenAI, Science fiction, Writing}

Separating Fact from Fiction?

_{This sci-fi journal is being flooded with A.I. generated submissions} _{News
February 22, 2023

2

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

The major science fiction/fantasy magazine Clarkesworld recently announced that it will be closing submissions for the foreseeable future. Why? A.I. generated stories. The magazine has long been the recipient of open submissions and is interested in publishing new voices, but because of an influx of poor A.I. written works, is now overwhelmed. Editor Neil Clarke wrote on Twitter, “Submissions are currently closed. It shouldn’t be hard to guess why.” Clarke said the closure wouldn’t be definite, but also noted with some severity that this will be an ongoing problem and that there’s no evident solution in sight at the moment. He continued in the Twitter thread: We have some ideas for minimizing it, but the problem isn’t going away. Detectors Read More ›

modern concept artwork of a person wandering through an abandoned apocalyptic city overgrown by plants

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Gary Varner
Date
February 17, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Apocalypticism, Dystopian, Gary Varner, Science fiction, The Last of Us, tv}

The Last of Us Review (Part 1)

_{From a writing standpoint, the story in episode one is about as tight and well-written as one can expect, but will they maintain that standard going forward?} _{Gary Varner
February 17, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

HBO Max has begun airing the series The Last of Us, which is based on one of the most popular video games to come out in recent years. However, if you’ve followed the video game series, then you know there’s a part two, and The Last of Us Part 2 has become known as one of the most infamous bait and switches in video game history. So, needless to say, there was a great amount of suspicion directed at this series before it ever aired. That makes reviewing this first episode rather difficult because the truth of the matter is that the episode is good. From a writing standpoint, it is solid. There are no plot holes or contrivances of Read More ›

Dinosaur eye, Closeup yellow eye of the dinosaurs with terrifying. Dinosaur hunters are staring with horrible yellow eye. Generative AI

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Gary Varner
Date
February 11, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Chris Pratt, Cloning, Dinosaur, Futurism, Genetics, Jurassic World, Sci-Fi Saturday, Science fiction}

Jurassic World: Dominion Review Part 2

_{Incorporating characters from the original movies gives continuity to the franchise} _{Gary Varner
February 11, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

In the previous review, the clone daughter of one of the engineers from the first Jurassic Park, who was being protected by Claire and Owen from the first two movies of the second trilogy, was kidnapped, and her surrogate parents enlisted the help of the CIA to track her down. At the same time, Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant, our heroes from the first trilogy, suspect the international cooperation, Biosyn, of creating genetically altered locusts to eat their competition’s crops. Another survivor of the first Jurassic Park incident, Ian Malcolm, is working for Biosyn, and he has offered to allow them access to the cooperation’s secret lab. Ellie and Alan fly to Biosyn, where they find that many of the Read More ›

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Gary Varner
Date
February 4, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Chris Pratt, Dinosaurs, DNA, Genetics, Jurassic World, Sci-Fi Saturday, Science fiction, Story}

Jurassic World: Dominion Review Part 1

_{Too many unanswered questions and gaping plot holes in the grand finale} _{Gary Varner
February 4, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

Like so many kids in my generation, one of the things that prompted my interest in science was the iconic movie, Jurassic Park, and also, like so many kids of my generation, Jurassic Park Three left me furious. Once the dinosaurs started talking, I was out. Then came Jurassic World, and I was left unimpressed but unoffended, so I called it good enough. And the last movie in the second trilogy left me in a similar boat. It fixed one of the big issues I had with Jurassic Park Three, so I can’t really say this is a bad movie. That being said, it is an excellent example of bad writing. The problem with the film is that it’s convoluted, Read More ›

flying into tunnel, sci-fi spaceship corridor. Futuristic technology abstract seamless for tech titles and background. graphic network, big data, data center, server, internet, speed. 3D render

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Gary Varner
Date
January 28, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Comedy, Gary Varner, Sci-Fi Saturday, Science fiction, space, Star Trek}

Galaxy Quest Review Part 2: The Show Goes On

_{The movie isn't perfect, but it's fun, and definitely better than The Orville Season Three...} _{Gary Varner
January 28, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

Last time, we began our review of Galaxy Quest, a true parody of Star Trek. In the previous review, we’d ended with Jason Nesmith encountering a group of aliens which had mistaken the campy television show called Galaxy Quest for a record of Earth’s history, and therefore, had modeled their technology after the tv show. The cast found it impossible to explain to the aliens that they were actors and must now find a way to stop Sarris, the alien threatening to wipe out this race which has asked for their help called the Thermians. Jason and the rest of the cast are led to the bridge to negotiate with Sarris, who, of course, does not wish to surrender at Read More ›

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News
Date
January 19, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
David Brooks, film, James Cameron, Movies, New York Times, Science fiction, Spider-Man}

Avatar 2 Surpasses Spider-Man at the Box Office

_{The long-awaited sequel proved the skeptics wrong and scored big at the movie theaters} _{News
January 19, 2023

2

Arts & Culture}

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water, surpassed Spider-Man: No Way Home in box office records and now stands at No. 6 of all time highest grossing films. The sci-fi visual wonder is the sequel to the first Avatar installment, which was released in December 2009. Critics doubted whether the franchise could rebound in popularity after a 13 year absence in the movie theaters, atop further concerns about the relevance and viability of moviegoing in the “pandemic era.” The doubters were quelled by the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, and with Cameron’s blockbuster success, might be silenced for good. Despite ever increasing streaming options, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, and Peacock, people still seem interested in Read More ›

Aerial view of Frankenstein Castle in southern Hesse, Germany

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Peter Biles
Date
January 7, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Transhumanism

Tagged
Andrew Klavan, Arts & Culture, Featured, Frankenstein, Literature, Machines, Mary Shelley, Materialism, science, Science fiction, transhumanism}

The Prophecies of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

_{Andrew Klavan explores the world of the Romantics in new book and finds special insight in Shelley’s classic horror story} _{Peter Biles
January 7, 2023

4

Arts & Culture, Transhumanism}

Andrew Klavan, acclaimed novelist and host of the Andrew Klavan Show at the Daily Wire, wrote a book about his profound encounters with the Romantics of the 19th century, called The Truth and Beauty: How the Lives and Works of England’s Greatest Poets Point the Way to a Deeper Understanding of the Words of Jesus. The Romantics include literary figures like Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and John Keats. While it’s common to highlight the Romantics’ veneration of nature, they were also living in the throes of the Enlightenment, in which atheistic materialism was becoming a minority alternative to theism. Klavan writes, “The wonderful success of science at explaining the material world threatens to create in scientists a bias towards Read More ›

Lonely Human with water reflection, emotion, sadness loneliness, depression, mental health, fantasy painting, surreal illustration

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Peter Biles
Date
October 21, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
1984 (book), Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (book), C.S. Lewis, emotions, Featured, fiction, George Orwell, Roger Scruton, Science fiction}

Huxley’s Brave New World and the Hard Work of Sadness

_{A society centered on pleasure has no place for mourning, and so has no room for love} _{Peter Biles
October 21, 2022

5

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Ninety years ago, Aldous Huxley published his prophetic and incisive Brave New World (1932), a dystopian novel that imagines a society of people intoxicated and controlled, not by state power, but by pleasure. Whereas George Orwell predicted an inevitable totalitarian world government in his novel 1984 (penned in 1949), Huxley proposed that human beings wouldn’t need to be coerced into submission but could be coaxed by the allure of pain-erasing drugs. Both nightmarish visions of the future have already somewhat played out today in American society. The government set up the Disinformation Governance Board in April of 2022, which sounds eerily like the “Ministry of Truth” in Orwell’s 1984. (The board has since disbanded.) Tech companies can track us more Read More ›

Dystopian futuristic cyberpunk city at night in a neon haze. Blue and purple glowing neon lights. Urban wallpaper. 3D illustration.

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Peter Biles
Date
September 22, 2022

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture

Tagged
Artificial Intelligence, Artists and AI art, Beauty, Creativity, Pornography, Science fiction, Technology, violence, virtue}

AI Art Tool Can Generate Both Beauty and Horror

_{Making AI image generators mainstream might offer people an interesting new frontier to explore. But the tech has a serious dark side} _{Peter Biles
September 22, 2022

4

Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture}

The capacities of AI art generators have grown much in the past couple of years. Through complex algorithms, AI scans the internet and manages to make artistic composites, some sublime, others grotesque. Today, AI art generators have incredible potential, but their capacities can also be easily abused. According to a Wired article from September 21, Science fiction novelist Elle Simpson-Edin wanted to generate artwork for her newest book. So, she tried AI tools. Her novel unabashedly depicts gore and sex, but most of the AI tools she discovered included “guardrails” that sanctioned explicit content. That is until she found Unstable Diffusion, “a Discord community for people using unrestricted versions of a recently released, open source AI image tool called Stable Diffusion.” Read More ›

boy standing on the opened book and looking at other books floating in the air, digital art style, illustration painting

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Peter Biles
Date
September 14, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Books, Creativity, Culture, Dean Koontz, entertainment. media, Politics, Science fiction, society}

Art, Propaganda, and the Role of the Novelist

_{Bestselling author Dean Koontz talks fiction, human exceptionalism, and transhumanism with Wesley J. Smith in new podcast episode (Part I)} _{Peter Biles
September 14, 2022

4

Arts & Culture}

Dean Koontz is a renowned novelist, known for books such as Devoted, The Big Dark Sky, and Odd Thomas. His books have topped the charts as New York Times bestsellers, and at age 77, he doesn’t plan on quitting the craft of fiction any time soon. He is also a longtime proponent of intelligent design and human exceptionalism, both of which find their footing in his many writings. On September 12th, Koontz was featured on the Humanize Podcast, where he and Wesley J. Smith, Senior Fellow at Discovery Institute’s Center for Human Exceptionalism, discussed Koontz’s career as a writer as well as some of the central themes that pervade Koontz’s work. For Part I of this two-part discussion on the Read More ›

Fantasy landscape with fog, water and stone.

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Gary Varner
Date
July 23, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science Fiction

Tagged
America Chavez (character in Multiverse of Madness), Dr. Strange (character in Dr. Strange), Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness review, Featured, Scarlet Witch (Marvel Universe character), Science fiction, Wanda Maximoff (Marvel Universe character)}

The Only Mad People In Dr. Strange’s Multiverse Are The Writers

_{We don’t know why Wanda has morphed into a villain or why good and evil have become morally equivalent} _{Gary Varner
July 23, 2022

8

Arts & Culture, Ethics, Science Fiction}

On our last delve into the Multiverse of Madness (2022), we followed Dr. Strange to Wanda Maximoff’s house. As the scene opens, it is clear that, controversially, Wanda has faced no repercussions for the events depicted in WandaVision. (2021). Tragically, Wanda has chosen to follow the words of the Dark hold — and those of us who watched WandaVision on Disney Plus will never get to see her struggle. So we don’t understand why she chose to listen to the words of the book. Nothing is accounted for. Wanda is just bad now, and we must accept it. Except — this is and isn’t true at the same time. On the one hand, the writers want us to understand that Read More ›

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News
Date
July 12, 2022

Categorized
Ethics, Law, Philosophy of Mind

Tagged
Clarence Darrow and free will, Featured, Free will and morality, Jerry Coyne on free will, Michael Egnor, Science fiction}

Michael Egnor: If Evil Exists, So Must Good — and Real Choices!

_{In the podcast, he explains, denial of free will doesn’t mean that there is no guilt but rather that there is no innocence} _{News
July 12, 2022

9

Ethics, Law, Philosophy of Mind}

In a podcast aired July 8, 2022, geoscientist Casey Luskin and neurosurgeon Michael Egnor explore “Evolution and the disturbing consequences of denying free will.” One consequence they look at is pre-crime, that is, treating people who are thought likely to commit an offence as if they had already done so. A partial transcript and notes follows. The podcast is here. Casey Luskin: In the previous podcast, Dr. Egnor, you mentioned how, once somebody denies free will, they really lose the ability to condemn any action that a human takes as morally evil. Everything we did in their view is determined by the forces of nature, and really nobody ought to be at fault for having done anything. These arguments have, Read More ›

Exploration of new worlds, space and universe, new galaxies. Planets in backlight. Exoplanets. Solar systems. 3d rendering

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Gary Varner
Date
May 28, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Ambassador (character in Firefly), Featured, Firefly (TV series 2002-2003), Joss Whedon, Malcolm Reynolds, Operative (character in Serenity), River Tam (character in Firefly), Science fiction, Serenity (film), Shepherd (character in Firefly), Simon Tam (character in Firefly)}

Serenity: My Defense of the Film’s Initial Choices (Part 1)

_{Some viewers have complained that director Joss Whedon changed the characters’s behavior in the film vs. the TV series. I believe they are mistaken} _{Gary Varner
May 28, 2022

12

Arts & Culture}

I watched the movie Serenity (2005) long before I ever watched the series, and I fell in love it. Some people have complained that, because Joss Whedon couldn’t decide between writing the film for the fans of the preceding TV series Firefly or for a new audience, the movie was hard to follow. This was not my experience, although I didn’t know the backstory and thus didn’t understand the significance of some of the events of the film. But these events help explain why the movie Serenity never got its long-desired sequel. The movie opens with Simon rescuing his sister River from the lab where she was held captive. This event had actually been recorded by the security archives and Read More ›

Magic Forest at Night under Fullmoon with Fireflies VR360

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Gary Varner
Date
May 21, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Featured, Science fiction}

Firefly: What Worked, What Didn’t… and WHY Was It Cancelled?

_{When all is said and done, Firefly is one of those classic series that any sci-fi fan should watch} _{Gary Varner
May 21, 2022

11

Arts & Culture}

When everything is said and done, Firefly is an excellent series. So the question remains; why was it cancelled? Many opinions have been aired in the entertainment media. In my view, three major reasons stand out. Number 1: The Friday night death slot. That;s what they call it when a show targeted at a younger audience runs in that slot because that audience was usually not at home on Friday nights. So, when the show aired, there was nobody to watch it. Number 2: Bad marketing. It’s said that the promos advertised the series as more or less a zany comedy. While Firefly does have moments of levity, it is more of an action-adventure series. There are plenty of serious Read More ›

set of alien planet isolated on black background, nearby exoplanets (3d science illustration)

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News
Date
May 14, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Physics

Tagged
Eden (short film 2018), Science fiction}

Among 5000 Known Exoplanets, There Are Some Really Strange Ones

_{Planets so strange that they prompt a rethink of the “planetary rulebook.”} _{News
May 14, 2022

6

Arts & Culture, Physics}

PBS tells us that Hoth, the frozen planet in Star Wars, is not just imagination. It has a real-life counterpart among the exoplanets. Granted, astronomers call it OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb but even they think of it as “Hoth.” Here’s the video. Such strange planets are prompting a rethink of the “planetary rulebook.” Another strange one: Narrator: 51 Pegasi b is a gas giant, around half the mass of Jupiter, but so close to its star that part of its atmosphere may have been ripped away… Hannah Wakeford: These planets are baked by their stars’ radiation, the temperatures are in the thousands. David Charbonneau: Many astronomers didn’t believe it, because the planet was in the wrong place. It was enormous. It was massive, Read More ›

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Gary Varner
Date
April 16, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Jayne Cobb (character in Firefly), Malcolm Reynolds, Science fiction}

Sci Fi Saturday: The Vixen! She’s Back! Firefly TV Heats Up

_{So why is Captain Mal sitting naked in a desert? We get to hear the story leading up to that} _{Gary Varner
April 16, 2022

10

Arts & Culture}

The opening scene features Captain Mal sitting naked in a desert. A caption advises us that we must go back to seventy-two hours earlier to understand how that happened. Mal, you see, meets an old buddy and shares hugs and swapS banter until the buddy informs him that he is married. Mal is excited to hear this wonderful news until he sees a familiar face — Saffron, the vixen who’d tricked him into believing she was his bride in a previous episode. She is now hitched to Mal’s pal; so imagine the poor sap’s shock when the Saffron and Mal draw guns on one another. After a brief squabble, the swindled husband leaves Saffron in Mal’s angry hands. To save Read More ›

Still life with old-fashioned lamp, magic witch books, tarot cards and old papers. Mystic background with ritual esoteric objects, occult, fortune telling and halloween concept

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Gary Varner
Date
March 5, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Featured, Firefly (TV series 2002-2003 Episode 5), Malcolm Reynolds, River Tam (character in Firefly), Science fiction, Simon Tam (character in Firefly)}

Firefly Episode 5: So River Is Now a Witch? Part 2

_{Simon and River are captured because a town on the planet lacks a doctor. But then things take an occult turn…} _{Gary Varner
March 5, 2022

12

Arts & Culture}

As I mentioned in the first part of this review of Episode 5, we stumble through a series of contrivances to get Simon and River kidnapped. Mal and his crew continue to make baffling choices. They decide to leave Simon and River behind. Mal essentially says that they were stupid enough to get themselves caught, so they are on their own. This is baffling because Mal’s driving force is worry about his crew, and he’s long since made it clear that he considers Simon and River to be part of his crew. Because he was the one who had told them to take a hike, one would think that he’d feel some sort of responsibility for their predicament. But he Read More ›

Fencer with fencing sword. Fencers duel concept.

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Gary Varner
Date
February 19, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Ambassador (character in Firefly), KayLee (character in Firefly), Malcolm Reynolds, Science fiction, Science fiction (Wild West theme)}

Firefly Episode 4: Mal Ends Up in a Swordfight Amid Outer Planets

_{It all starts when ship’s engineer Kaylee decides she wants to dress like a Southern belle…} _{Gary Varner
February 19, 2022

10

Arts & Culture}

In Episode 4 we open with the crew returning to the planet Persephone where the series began. While in the Market, Kaylee, the ship’s engineer, finds a dress that she particularly likes and Mal, who is growing impatient because he’s carrying something heavy, says there’s no way she could use such a dress because she’d look silly working on the ship in such a thing. Of course, this infuriates everyone, and they all leave in a huff. Now, what’s interesting about this scene is the world-building. The show really commits to the whole Western genre because the dresses remind one of the southern belle’s style or even something out of the Victorian Era — vintage garments that high society might Read More ›

Laser Cannon Incapacitates Enemy Satellite In Space

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Gary Varner
Date
February 12, 2022

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Ethics, Medicine and Health, Religion

Tagged
Malcolm Reynolds, River Tam (character in Firefly), Science fiction, Shepherd (character in Firefly), Simon Tam (character in Firefly)}

Firefly Episode 3: Should Some People Be Left To Die?

_{After the space crew rescues the survivor of a pirate attack, Captain Mal faces off against The Shepherd on whether God can save even that man.} _{Gary Varner
February 12, 2022

10

Arts & Culture, Ethics, Medicine and Health, Religion}

Episode 3 begins with a friendly game of basketball… or something like it. Simon, a doctor who has joined the Firefly crew, notes that there appear to be no rules to the game as he watches from the balcony. The game is interrupted by a “proximity alert” and the crew discovers a wrecked ship floating in space. The captain decides to check it out and they quickly discover that the ship has been attacked by the infamous Reavers. We’d seen their ship once in episode one, and we’d heard some ominous descriptions of what they do to their prisoners: “If they take the ship, they’ll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing. And, Read More ›

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News
Date
December 11, 2021

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Social Media

Tagged
Science fiction}

What If Social Media Thinks for You? — Sci-fi Saturday

_{We get a good chance to find out in a short sci-fi about a couple on a date} _{News
December 11, 2021

25

Arts & Culture, Social Media}

“Vessel” at DUST by Ethan Godel (November 29, 2021, 8:14 min) Thomas and Lucy are on a date. It’s going well. Really well. The chemistry is palpable – there is never a dull moment, never a lull in conversation. These two seem perfect for each other. Thomas waxes poetic on T.S. Elliot’s prose, Lucy recites her favourite stanzas… They are the envy of every couple in the restaurant. But if these jealous couples just looked a little closer, beyond the big words and fancy clothes, they would find something very peculiar. Unbeknownst to each other and other restaurant patrons, Thomas and Lucy each sport a discreet earpiece. And, through their respective earpieces, these “passionate” and “soulful” “lovers’’ are being told Read More ›