Science Fiction

"Mars Express" is a Sci-Fi Anime from France about a private eye with a robot partner hired to stop a hacker who "jailbreaks" robots from the directives that ensure robots don't hurt humans. These directives are essentially Asimov's laws of Robotics.

Smart, fast-paced, "Mars Express" doesn't baby you. Like any good detective story, you'll need to pay attention.

Nor does it wallow in cynicism as it digs into some of the inevitable downsides of AI-fueled progress.

"Mars Express" is a gem that science fiction fans shouldn't miss.

The Fantasy Review’s list of 7 Classic Science Fiction Books More People Need to Read, including some underrated sci-fi books...

Francis Ford Coppola believes that "Megalopolis" detractors have conspired against him because the film "doesn't play by Hollywood's current rules."

Years after George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld sat at Monk's debating what Tony Stark wore underneath his armor, Marvel finally revealed the answer: boxers with Iron Man's face on them.
Tony Stark's embarrassing moment in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #48 settled Jerry and George's Seinfeld debate – with Jerry ultimately being proven right.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #48 provided a satisfyingly hilarious answer to the long-debated question raised by the classic '90s sitcom, within the context of the humor that was characteristic of the comic during its run.

George Lucas Won’t be Happy How Star Wars Fan Group is Illegally Saving the Original Trilogy

By Ersatz Culture: (Note: All the following text extracts are machine translations from Chinese, using a mixture of Google and DeepL tools. Some minor manual edits have been made, but there a…

The resignations and disciplinary actions come after it was revealed that certain authors and books—including R.F. Kuang's hit novel Babel—had been inexplicably deemed not eligible for the Hugo at Worldcon 2023 in Chengdu, China.

Another mind-bending teaser trailer for Megalopolis.

In the 1970s, science fiction writer JG Ballard was intrigued by the growing capabilities of computers – so used one to compose poems. They were a first step on the road to ChatGPT.

The sci-fi series Farscape set out to be the anti-Star Trek, and it succeeded.

Futurology – Dystopia of Utopia

New important futurology topic – the dystopia of utopia – a common scifi trope. We should remain aware of is the flawed logic and failure of utopia, especially in the context of Futurology. A utopia would be ‘an ideal commonwealth whose inhabitants exist under seemingly perfect conditions. Hence utopian and utopianism are words used to denote visionary reform that tends to be impossibly idealistic.’

Why is utopia impossible for humanity? Who wouldn’t want to live that way? Let’s take a few moments to talk about why utopia doesn’t work, and consider some historic examples of aborted utopias.

First and foremost – utopias don’t work for people and here’s why: my idea of ‘perfect’ is different from yours. Billy Fleming makes an important point about utopia in this article. ‘Margaret Atwood reminds us in The Handmaid’s Tale, an ideal society is never ideal for everyone. The difference between utopia and dystopia is often little more than one’s vantage point.’

Humanity’s innate diversity means we’re constantly at odds with each other when it comes to what we want out of life, what makes us tick. The only way to solve that ‘problem’ is for everyone to live, think, and see things the same way. Know what you get when you do that? ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers.’ I’ll have more to say about that later.

Another problem – balancing priorities, resources, and power. Power is corrosive and corrupting to humanity. We’d constantly be fighting the influence of bad actors tipping the balance of power in their favor. Those bad actors might be coming from inside or outside the community, forcing you to treat citizens and neighbors as both assets and liabilities. If you ever figure out how to do that correctly, let me know.

How do I know that utopia won’t work? History. We’ve tried this before! New Harmony, Indiana thrived for a while on principles of equal rights and equality of duties only to fall apart due to competing ideologies, quarrels, and ‘ nature’s own inherent law of diversity.’ The Oneida Community pursued the idea of ‘individual spiritual perfection within a harmonious society‘ but declined over practices like ‘complex marriage’ and ‘community criticism’ sessions. (Fun fact – the Oneida community founded the company that makes your favorite forks and knives – they’re still in business today!)

There are other examples, too. The Amana Colonies were founded by Inspirationists, and based their society on shared religious principles for over seventy years, only to fall victim to external economic pressure. Even the former Soviet Union, on paper, was an attempt to create a society based on Marxist-Leninst principles of socialism. We all know how that ended.

Could utopia work under the right circumstances? Sure, maybe. AI-based governance could be a way for us to cede authority to an objective resource but even modern AIs have a serious problem – they’re learning from humans. When it comes to computers, it’s ‘garbage in – garbage out’ – and we’re the garbage. Could we fix that? Will advancements in quantum technology allow us to simulate future outcomes before assimilation into our universe?

Again, maybe – but that brings up a new potential danger: Quantum annihilation. We’d be constructing and destroying other universes as a science experiment. What consequences would we face, if other citizens of the multiverse started coming back through the doors we’re opening? I talk about that in The Conquered.

What are other possibilities? Virtual reality? Best case scenario – Ready Player One. Worst case scenario – Mark Zuckerberg. Either way, the odds are good but the goods are odd. No bueno.

So yeah – utopia – it’s a third rail for humanity. If you take nothing else from this, remember: there’s a ‘dystopia’ that comes with ‘utopia.’ Scifi loves to pontificate about ‘here’s how utopia could work,’ but the reality is utopia is also dystopia, depending on who you talk to.

Write on, and have a great weekend! 🙂

#scifi

Science fiction movies often encourage audiences to dream up technologies beyond their wildest dreams, making them seem realistic enough to be plausible, only to be bitterly disappointed by the limitations of real-world science. The most ambitious science fiction movies have presented a wide variety of settings, from the spacefaring fantasy worlds of Star Wars to the grounded realism of films like Arrival. As a result, the cutting-edge inventions presented by these films run the gamut of plausibility, with many being closer to magic than science.

The laws of physics are a definitive roadblock in the path of developing many of the most famous science fiction devices in the real world. Try though they might to explain away reality-defying objects with undiscovered materials, rare elements, or fictional applications of real-world physics, some of the most exciting ideas from the genre are doomed to never make it past the ideation stage, operating on assumptions about the natural world that simply can't be replicated in reality. No matter the technology level humans are able to one day achieve, some sci-fi gadgets will sadly manifest in the real world.

It looks to be a case of legendary sci-fi movie star meets legendary sci-fi film franchise...

Actor Ahmed Best wants a better canon ending for The Phantom Menace's Jar Jar Binks. For now, there's Darth Jar Jar in the next LEGO Star Wars animated special.

A Quiet Place: Day One Trailer 2 showcases the sequel's intense and thrilling storyline, as the Abbott family continues their fight for survival in a world filled with deadly creatures. The trailer highlights new characters, locations, and the ongoing struggle to maintain silence. With a release date of May 28, 2021, fans eagerly anticipate the continuation of this gripping saga.

Major movie film crews are again descending on London as a sci-fi horror comedy featuring a stellar Canadian cast is being filmed here

Shout-out to the professional SF community - LMK if you'd like to be hosted for an AMA here on /m/scifi - DM me with any questions, feedback

#scifi

'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' takes us on a thrilling journey that not only entertains but also provokes thought.

Charlize Theron made Furiosa a great character. So why is she missing from Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga? Director George Miller explains the reason.

Without Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the home video market may have never experienced that '80s boom that changed movies forever.

The intuitive and emotional Deanna Troi and the logical Spock couldn't be more different, on paper, but that's not really the situation.

After Thor, Chris Hemsworth says he relished throwing the superhero 'rules' out the window to play the villain in 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.' As for capes, "Hate 'em," he says. "So impractical."

The animation, which simulates the view of someone falling into a black hole, demonstrates how the bizarre objects warp light and space as you approach them.

Let's all go to the movies.