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In January 1937 the Leeds chapter of the Science Fiction League had its first real convention — which might be the first science fiction convention held anywhere in the world. And now, just in time for the 75th anniversary, a treasure trove of new photos has been discovered. Including the young Arthur C. Clarke. (That's him in the middle, between Walter Gillings and Ted Carnell.) About 20 people attended, and the festivities included a "jam session." The photos are a fascinating look back into the early days of fandom. [Fiawol via Boing Boing] More »
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You may have read Arthur C. Clarke's 1993 space-disaster novel Hammer of God — but have you read the original 1992 short story it was based on? Originally published in Time Magazine, that story is now available for free over at Lightspeed Magazine, and it's a potent dose of cosmic wonder. More »
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Did Apple invent the iPad? Or did Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke? Samsung is using the above clip as a piece of evidence in its defense against Apple's patent lawsuit over the Galaxy S and similar tablet computers. More »
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Lauren Beukes won the 2011 Arthur C. Clarke Award for her novel Zoo City, a jarring urban fantasy about an alternate Johannesburg where criminals are matched with magical animals. More »
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There's a fascinating profile of Arthur C. Clarke over at the Sri Lanka Guardian, a newspaper in the land where Clarke spent the second half of his life. There are tons of insights into Clarke's life, writing and technological foresight. More »
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Starships are the coolest kind of vessels out there. They travel faster than light, they encounter strange new worlds, they turn space into their playground. But what are the coolest starships of them all? After much careful deliberation, we've come up with our definitive list of the 10 greatest starships in all space and time. More »
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Over the past several years, the Arthur C. Clarke Award has honored some of science fiction's most provocative, mind-expanding novels, among its winners as well as its finalists. Now the award's funding is running out. More »
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People often ask: how realistic is the scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey where Bowman makes a space-walk without a helmet? How long could you survive in vacuum? Would you explode? Would you survive? How long would you remain conscious? More »
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If cleanliness is next to godliness, then I can't help but think God must like 1980's Hugo-winning novel, The Fountains of Paradise, by Arthur C. Clarke — even if it's all about getting in His face. More »
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Rendezvous With Rama author Arthur C. Clarke predicts telemedicine, telecommuting and mobile phones, in a 1964 BBC interview. Too bad we don't have space colonies or mentally enhanced chimpanzee servants yet. More »
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Science fiction is the literature of our times, the fuel of our imaginations and the source of our favorite imaginary worlds. But what do we mean when we talk about "science fiction?" Here are some of the many definitions. More »
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People have talked about turning Arthur C. Clarke's 1974 Hugo winner into a movie, but no one's done it. Should that change, here are some thoughts on how a Rendezvous With Rama screenplay should look. More »
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James P. Hogan, author of Inherit The Stars and 30 other hard science fiction novels, passed away yesterday. He talked in a 2004 interview about how 2001: A Space Odyssey made him a science fiction author... because it frustrated him. More »
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Arthur C. Clarke's giant space monolith novel Rendezvous With Rama won't be getting a blockbuster film anytime soon, but this neat short from film students offers a tantalizing taste of what a Rama adaptation could be. More »
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People talk about science fiction as the literature of humanism. But actually, science fiction's explorations put it into conflict with humanism's tenets. The best science fiction questions the nature of humanity, and whether the universe will let us stay human. More »
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The alien aesthetic of 1950s scifi artist Richard Powers evokes melting clocks, Bruegel-like landscapes, and the surrealism of Paul Klee. One look at Powers' surrealist planets and you know you're not on Tatooine any more. More »
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In James Cameron's Avatar, we're introduced to an alien race that we immediately take to: the almost-human Na'vi. But sympathizing with slightly-different people is easy. Here are few examples of sci-fi giving us truly "alien" aliens. More »
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Arthur C. Clarke's big, famous novels are "dull, slow and passionless," but you have to admire the fertility of his imagination, writes Robert Silverberg. But there's still something to love about an early Clarke novel, Against The Fall Of Night. More »
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Are you enjoying your "smellyvision?" Does your implanted microchip adjust every building's temperature when you enter? Or how's your portable quantum generator working out? These are just a few of the craziest predictions for 2010, made in 1999 and 2000. More »
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When you've got amazing technologies or strong magical powers, death doesn't have to have the final word. But is bringing the dead back to life always a good idea? We look the reasons it's better to say no to resurrection. More »
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The cities of the future are massive, sprawling, beautiful monsters, covering entire coastlines — and in some cases, entire continents. Whether it's Judge Dredd's Mega-Cities or William Gibson's "Sprawl," future cities always devour land. Here's a map of future megalopolises. More »
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Hot enough for ya? Our crazy fossil-fuel orgy is driving the planet's temperatures through the roof. Good thing science fiction books and movies have come up with 10 can't-fail solutions (well, maybe they'd work) for stopping global warming. More »
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The RMS Titanic sank almost a century ago, but it's still sailing through the imaginations of science-fiction writers and artists. Here are 10 Titanic tales, including Douglas Adams, Arthur C. Clarke, and Doctor Who. More »
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Science fiction doesn't just glimpse the future - it invents the scientific vocabulary of the present, according to an editor from the Oxford English Dictionary, who's listed nine scientific terms that came from science fiction. More »
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Science fiction's best authors chart a vast and unpredictable cosmos - but they're not above making a little wager here and there on earthly matters. Here are SF authors' weirdest (and most productive) bets. More »
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A new anthology gives some hints at the cutting edge of storytelling about artificial intelligences. We Think Therefore We Are, just out from Daw, includes a number of brilliant concepts amidst mostly lukewarm writing. More »
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For years the property of geeks and nerds, now science fiction is suffering the ultimate indignity: Becoming the next big "sexy" thing for British actors. Is this the beginning of the end for the genre? More »
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Science fiction writers have fantastical powers. They can peer into the future, invent strange new gadgets and alien races, and make us lose hours between their pages. And some writers can even speak to us from beyond the grave, publishing new works months — and even years — after they’ve died. Here are just some of the works that made their way to the presses after their authors passed the real final frontier. More »
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Director David Fincher’s post-Benjamin Button project has been somewhat of a mystery—a 3D/CG Heavy Metal? Brian Michael Bendis’ Torso? Matz's The Killer? Oh god, not the Fight Club musical?!? But now it looks like we can cross at least one limbo-ing project off his to-do list: Rendezvous With Rama, based on the cerebral, 1972 novel by sci-fi great Arthur C. Clarke about about the human response to an ominous alien spaceship sneaking its way into the Milky Way. More »
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As Japan Space Elevator Associated contemplates building a space elevator, Esquire writer Chuck Klosterman sees one on the horizon in his "A Brief History of the 21st Century." Artist Bruce Irving conceptualizes the elevator to the stars above, and Klosterman gives us the details below. More »
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At last, the most important works of science fiction are being determined scientifically. New Scientist magazine is doing a special science fiction issue on Nov. 15, and the magazine is polling its science-boffin readers as to the greatest books and movies in the genre. The magazine's own staff have already voted, and you might not be surprised by the books they put first. But you may have some issues with their most hated movies and books. More »
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BBC Radio is launching a huge science fiction "drama season" that will span three stations in the month of March: Radio 3, Radio 4, and BBC 7. Audio plays, including adaptations of Arthur C. Clarke's Rendezvous With Rama and Iain M. Banks' State Of The Art (adapted by Paul Cornell), will air during Radio 3's Afternoon Play, Classic Serial and Women's Hour timeslots. Meanwhile, BBC 7 will launch a new 10-part audio series called Planet B. The BBC's Jeremy Howe says the initiative is all about celebrating "contemporary science fiction," not chestnuts. And he says radio is the "natural home" of writers like Clarke and William Gibson, who've created "fantastic works of the imagination." [The Stage] More »
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Here's a gorgeous detail from Michael Whelan's cover art for Arthur C. Clarke's 2010: Odyssey Two. It has everything, the giant blue baby head, the spaceship, the sillhouette of Jupiter, and that sexy, sexy obelisk. The folks over at LibraryThing are having a discussion of their favorite science fiction book covers, and it's introduced me to some amazing classic — and recent — cover art that I hadn't seen before. Click through to see a few of the other great LibraryThing recommendations, including an Asimov cover by Ralph McQuarrie. More »
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Several of the most imaginative minds in science fiction (and science) gathered at this year's Readercon to discuss a fundamental question of our existence: Why does it seem like we're alone in the universe? Writers Jeff Hecht, Steven Popkes, Robert J. Sawyer, Ian Randal Strock, and Michael A. Burstein offered their recommendations for the best fictional explorations of this question, commonly known as the Fermi paradox. See their picks, and find out more about one of the greatest paradoxes in human existence. More »
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While the mainstream sites are telling you that Arthur C. Clarke will have a secular funeral - apparently, it's a bit of a slow news day - we here at io9 would rather remember the great man's greatest work: 2001: A Space Odyssey. We'd just like to do it by remembering the little-known comic book version, is all. More »
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Arthur C. Clarke, author of scifi classics Rendezvous with Rama and 2001: A Space Odyssey, died today at the age of 90 in Sri Lanka. Not only did Clarke create a legend with 2001 (he worked on the film with Stanley Kubrick too), but he also predicted many of the scientific inventions of the twentieth century such as telecom satellites. He was even knighted in recognition of his many mind-bending contributions to the worlds of literature and science speculation. [LA Times] More »
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Fifty years ago, nobody could have imagined that one person would wield the mind-shaping power Rupert Murdoch now holds. His print and electronic media empire is in itself science fictional, so it's no surprise that scifi is full of Murdoch stand-ins. Click through to find out which science fiction creator named his lethal tumor after Murdoch, and which one of Murdoch's best friends skewered him in a scifi book. More »
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One of the best Christmas presents I ever received was David Wallechinsky and David Wallace's The People's Almanac. Published in 1975, the Almanac covered all sorts of juicy topics to keep an impressionable 14-year-old happy—famous crimes, oddities, utopias, and (oh, baby!) sex. There was even an entire chapter devoted to predictions given by not only the usual psychics, but an array of "Modern Scientists," among them the "prolific writer of science fiction" and famous predictor, Arthur C. Clarke. Here's how some of his People's Almanac predictions for 1991-2000 and beyond are stacking up. More »
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Arthur C. Clarke's weird science fiction novel Childhood's End could soon be a movie directed by Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry, and the upcoming Stop-Loss). Peirce says she's attracted to the challenging themes of Clarke's 1953 novel, but she'll have a hard time turning it into a big-budget movie. The novel inspired songs with the same title by Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd, but it's probably too dated for 21st. century audiences. More details after the jump. More »
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