io9: Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy

Which science fictional band do you wish you could jam with?

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:40:00 PST

Science fiction is full of amazing musical acts. If you could rock out with your cosmos out, which musical group from science fiction or fantasy would you want to jam with? We asked over at io9's Facebook group, and now we're putting together a poll. More »

10 Satirical Novels that Could Teach You To Survive the Future

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:48:55 PST

There's only one thing we know for sure about the future: It'll be weird, and you can't really prepare for it. Just imagine trying to tell someone in 2000 how to prepare for life in 2011. But luckily, there's one surefire way to brace yourself for another round of future shock: by reading a slew of great satires, about people trapped in weird and incomprehensible worlds. More »

10 Debut Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels That Took the World by Storm

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:08:35 PDT

This month, many of us are trying to pound out a novel. The ultimate dream is to break into the publishing world with a debut that makes people sit up and take notice. And there's some good news on that front — some of science fiction and fantasy's most beloved writers have made a splash with their very first published novels. More »

New app turns your iPad into the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:13:36 PDT

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" alt="Click here to read New app turns your iPad into the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" src="http://cache.io9.com/assets/images/8/2011/08/small_h2g2_screen01_01.png"/>

Finally, a reason to own an iPad. They've created an app that lets you access the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, that most indispensible resource, via your iOs device. It's basically an interactive edition of Douglas Adams' masterwork. More »

Finally Revealed: The 100 Greatest Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, According to NPR's Readers

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:02:17 PDT

When NPR revealed its list of finalists for its "Top 100 Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books" survey, we were struck by how diverse and wide-ranging that list was. Now the actual list of the 100 greatest books has been revealed... and it's quite a bit more conservative. More »

10 Greatest Rappers Who Starred in Science Fiction and Fantasy Films

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:35:11 PST

In space, nobody can hear you freestyle. But that hasn't stopped some of hip-hop's greatest legends from appearing in some classic science fiction and fantasy movies. From battling killer sharks to fighting off ghosts on Mars, some of our favorite rappers have also become some of our favorite SF heroes. More »

The electric ghost of Douglas Adams haunts your screen

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:55:42 PST

Recreating Douglas Adams' unique, bizarre humor is like catching cosmic rays in a bottle — messy, breathless, and likely to cost you a few fingers. So let's all celebrate the Dirk Gently pilot's success in some highly improbable comedy. Spoilers... More »

The End Is Near! A collection of the greatest end-of-the-world signs

Meredith Woerner — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 14:50:41 PST

What's the perfect fashion item to be wearing when disaster strikes? A big sign that says "The End is Near." So we rounded up our favorite signs that forewarn the end of days — or at least made us laugh. More »

Vancouver knows where its towel is, as the whole city reads Douglas Adams

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:40:00 PDT

Yesterday was 42-day, the day when we ponder the meaning of Life, The Universe, and Everything. But Vancouver is still celebrating Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy: the book is Vancouver's "One Book One Vancouver" pick, causing some controversy. More »

Douglas Adams returns to television with new Dirk Gently show

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 13:30:00 PDT

Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy creator Douglas Adams' other great work of anarchic science fiction, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, comes to the BBC this fall/winter, as a one-hour pilot. But what happens if Dirk gets an ongoing series? More »

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Daleks

Marc Bernardin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:00:00 PDT

Given their penchant for pan-galactic reigns of terror, Doctor Who's immortal villains clearly deserve a place in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy — and this artfully constructed infodump does the job quite nicely. [Topless Robot] More »

When Keeping It Skeptical In Science Fiction Goes Wrong

Alasdair Wilkins — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:00:00 PDT

A defining thread of modern scientific thought is skepticism, the tendency to question accepted ideas until evidence is found to confirm or reject them. But what do skeptics do in worlds of magic, aliens, and other matters fantastic? More »

Which Science-Fiction Book Series Do You Secretly Wish You Could Take Over?

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:01:06 PST

We all complain every time Brian Herbert or Eoin Colfer takes over a beloved book saga. Why can't they just leave it alone? But which book series do you secretly fantasize about taking over and totally rocking out with? More »

How To Jog Your Memory, The Science Fiction Hero Way

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:30:00 PST

The busier you get, the more stuff you forget, and navigating that mental clutter can be worse than steering through an asteroid field. Luckily, lots of intrepid galactic heroes have faced faulty memories, and created some handy techniques for remembering. More »

3 Ways To Meet (And Get Nasty With) Your Opposite-Sex Duplicate

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:53:01 PST

The most frustrating, annoying thing about the opposite sex is that they're not you. Why can't you just meet your exact duplicate — except for sex? You'd be a perfect match. Luckily, science fiction suggests 3 ways it could happen. More »

Where To Start With Young Adult Science Fiction

Sarah Hope Williams — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:00:00 PDT

Where's the best place to start your kids with reading Science Fiction? Here's a booklist of some of the best Sci-Fi for the discerning young adult, because it's never too early to teach them about the dangers of dystopian societies. More »

New Hitchhiker's Book Is Mostly Harmless... Unfortunately

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:00:00 PDT

The greatest proof of Douglas Adams' genius is that his anarchic comedy seems effortless. But when anyone else tries to do it, they crash and burn. Exhibit A: And Another Thing..., the new Hitchhiker's novel that comes out next week. More »

The Stage Play That Almost Made Douglas Adams Panic

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:04:13 PDT

Celebrate three decades of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by reliving some of the oddest adaptations of Douglas Adams' classic works. We've got an exclusive excerpt from the revised and expanded edition of Neil Gaiman's Adams biography Don't Panic. More »

Top 10 Silliest Alien Prosthetics

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:05:31 PDT

Movies and TV have made huge strides towards giving us awesome-looking superheroics, but let's face it: aliens still mostly look like Hare Krishnas after a candle-related accident. Here are the 10 most ridiculous alien head modifications from classic scifi. More »

We Drank Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters, And Lived To Tell About It!

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:43:06 PDT

One of the best Comic Con parties was the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy party that Hyperion Books threw for Eoin Colfer's continuation of Douglas Adams' classic series. We drank pan-galactic gargle blasters and talked comic space opera with Colfer. More »

Where's The Bathroom On The Enterprise? 9 Space Toilets

Lauren Davis — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:00:00 PDT

With the toilet on the International Space Station busted once again, we can't help but wonder whether humanity is doomed to a space-faring future without working facilities. Fortunately, there are plenty of fictional, functional space toilets to ease our minds. More »

Science Fiction's Greatest Legal Minds - Revealed!

Alasdair Wilkins — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:00:00 PDT

If the countless works of science fiction can agree on one thing, it's that the future isn't perfect. And, on the rare occasion when disputes can't be solved with an epic starship battle, it's time to bring in the lawyers. More »

The Text Adventure Games That Ate Our Brains

StephenGoldmeier — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:31:38 PDT

Long before computer animation and virtual reality, people were creating virtual worlds in a more traditional way: text. And some of the most vibrant and complete virtual worlds existed in a quirky genre of video game called the text adventure. More »

The Absolute Best Way To Stop An Army Of Killer Robots

Charlie Jane Anders — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:15:23 PDT

When killer robots menace all the fleshy ones, your options are few: You can mount a feverish, last-ditch resistance, with everyone wearing camo pants. You can travel back in time naked. Or you could just get them to plug Marvin The Paranoid Android into their main computer. More »

Great Unsung Slash Fiction Heroes

Charlie Jane Anders — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:52:52 PDT

When it comes to slash fiction - fans' illicit writings about same-sex hook-ups - people always talk Kirk/Spock. Or Snape/Everyone. But here are some valiant science-fiction heroes who secretly rule the world of slash fiction. More »

10 Greatest Science Fiction TV Show Endings Ever

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:46:09 PDT

With Battlestar Galactica rocking to an end Friday, the show's producers promise a bravura conclusion that will knock our socks off. But it's got some stiff competition - here are science fiction television's greatest endings. Spoilers! More »

What If A Show Shouldn't Be A Show?

Graeme McMillan — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 12:00:13 PST

Watching last week's Dollhouse, one thing became clear: its main flaw isn't actually the show itself but the fact that, at its heart, it's not really a TV series. Or, at least, it shouldn't be. More »

Scifi Sports Franchises Demand Your Fandom

Alex Carnevale — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:00:00 PDT

Before basketball season, the new Oklahoma City franchise had to pick a new basketball nickname — the first new one since Toronto chose the Raptors in 1995, on the heels of the popularity of Jurassic Park. We're disappointed to report that Oklahoma City decided to call its team the Thunder. Maybe Oklahoma City Dark Knights was too easy a target for lawyers, but we've got a few other scifi suggestions for teams likely to be picking new names soon. More »

Do We Really Need Another Hitchhiker's Book?

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:43:32 PDT

Let's be honest here: the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy was a wonderful radio show, some 30 years ago. It managed to survive the transformation into a couple of decent books and a TV show, more or less intact. Everything since then has been less and less amusing, like a stand-up comic who started off funny but stayed on stage, bottle in hand, long after the jokes ran out. And now another author is going to crank out a sixth Hitchhiker's book for cash? Maybe it's finally time to panic. More »

Scifi's Greatest Space Builders — And How We'll Copy Them

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:20:00 PDT

Click to viewOne day, when you hear someone is a construction worker, you'll have to ask whether he or she wears a spacesuit on the job. We're already assembling massive structures in space - like the International Space Station and Dextre, the "monster" robot that got built in space this past spring - but space construction will soon become more and more common. So it's a good thing science fiction is full of awesome examples of space construction, from Asimov to Star Trek. Space construction from science fiction: Science fiction is full of lavish descriptions of objects being built or assembled in space, from small robots to structures the size of a solar system. And many mega-structures described in science fiction must have been built in space, since they're too big to have been put together inside a gravity well. Probably the most famous instance of outer space construction comes from Star Trek. There's a huge controversy over whether the USS Enterprise NCC 1701 (without any bloody A, B, C, D, or E) was built in space or not. And the long-simmering debate was boosted into a roaring flame-war by the teaser trailer for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie, which appeared to show the starship being constructed on Earth. There's evidence on both sides: supposedly Trek creator Gene Roddenberry stated the Enterprise was built in orbit, but there are also sources that said it was built in San Francisco. But we do know the earlier Enterprise, the NX-01, was built in space, and so were the NCC-1701-D and USS Voyager. Here's a picture of the Utopia Planitia shipyards, from Memory Alpha:There are also tons of other shipyards in space, including the famous "Mon Calamari Shipyards" and several other orbital shipyards in Star Wars. Pictured at the top of this post are the orbital shipyards of Kuat, from the Wookiepedia. And of course, the massive Death Star had to be constructed in space. Science fiction is full of space elevators and other "megastructures" that must be built, at least partly, in space. Arthur C. Clarke's Fountains Of Paradise and Charles Sheffield's The Web Between The Worlds both involve a kind of "skyhook" or orbital tower, which connects the Earth's equator to a satellite in geosynchronous orbit. In the Clarke book, eventually five more "spokes" are built from Earth, to form a structure resembling a ship's wheel. Other space megastructures, such as ringworlds, discworlds, Dyson Spheres and artificial planets, would be impossible, or near-impossible, to build inside an existing gravity well. In the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, we get to see the massive planet-building area hidden in hyperspace and accessible through an opening in the planet Magrathea: In Asimov's I, Robot, the robot QT (aka Cutie) deduces that he's superior to the humans, partly because he has no memory of being assembled in space, from parts built on Earth. As far as he knows, he just turned up in space, fully formed.

"Something made you, Cutie," pointed out Powell. "You admit yourself that your memory seems to spring full-grown from the absolute blankness of a week ago. I'm giving you the explanation. Donovan and I put you together from the parts shipped us." Cutie gazed upon his long, supple fingers in an oddly human attitude of mystification. "It seems to me that there should be a more satisfactory explanation than that. For you to make me seems improbable."

In R. Cordwainer Smith's "Think Blue, Count Two," he specifies that the massive solar sails which people use to sail across the universe were constructed in the vaccuum:

Before the great ships whispered between the stars by means of planoforming, people had to fly from star to star with immense sails - huge films assembled in space on long, rigid, coldproof rigging.

Real-life applications: So what are the real-life applications of the idea of building in space? We've already proved we can put together a space station in orbit, but we're not likely to be building dozens of those any time soon. It's entirely possible that more robots like Dextre, with complex and multi-jointed arms, will be built in space to handle satellites and space junk. We're definitely not likely to be building space elevators, Dyson Spheres or orbital stations any time soon. But here are a few other ideas that are being batted around for big space construction projects. Some of them relate to mega-environmentalism. Some people claim we can halt global warming in its tracks by building mega-structures, such as space mirrors, or giant nanofiber "sun shades," in orbit. These would deflect some of the sunlight reaching Earth, and they'd need to be constructed in space. Also, a mooted solar power satellite, which would collect solar energy from orbit and beam it back to Earth, would almost certainly need to be constructed in orbit. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency wants to have one of these up and running by 2030. Also, when we get around to building long-range spaceships to explore or colonize outside our solar system, we'll have to build them in space. Some observers argue that these large ships could be constructed using some Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) as raw materials and maybe also as a shell for human habitats. But a lot sooner than that, big and expensive satellites may be constructed in orbit, to save on launching costs. Last year, some small Japanese "spider robots" successfully crawled out along a net linking three satellites in orbit. They only functioned for a short time, but scientists saw the test as an important proof of concept. In a few years, we could be launching big antennas and solar panels into space in pieces, using small, cheap rockets. And then tiny robots could assemble them in space. So for the sake of the human race, let's hope J.J. Abrams' Trek movie comes down on the side of the Enterprise having been built in orbit. Our future as a species may depend on getting people used to the idea of large-scale outer space construction. More »

The Greatest Human-A.I. Buddy-Comedy Chemistry Of All Time

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:00:00 PDT

The best friendships between humans and artificial intelligences are like Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice. A.I.s can be our pals, sharing witty banter and friendly advice. Just look at Knight Rider and Transformers. Not to mention some classic pairings. Here's our guide to the coolest and wittiest human-A.I. partnerships. More »

How Does Your Hero Measure Up On Our Wish-Fulfillment Checklist?

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:00:00 PDT

Sometimes you just want to escape into a heroic universe of wish fulfillment, with just the right kind of angst. And let's face it, some heroes do a better job of hitting your escapism sweet spots than others. We've put together a chart comparing the great action heroes, and seeing which ones hit most of the sweet spots of escapism. The categories in the chart should be pretty self-explanatory. But here's some explanation anyway: We love our heroes to be super rich, and to have an excuse for self-pity. If your fabulously wealthy parents got killed in front of you when you're a kid, so much the better. (Seriously, a tragic past seems to be a crucial ingredient for many escapist heroes, because it lets you project all your own real-life pain onto your hero, even as you're imagining rising about that pain and becoming a mega-adventurer. ) And it makes us happy when our heroes have two or more devoted acolytes/sidekicks, who follow almost without question, and awesome gadgets. Superhuman powers means what it says. "Gets laid" doesn't just mean your hero hooked up one time. "Marked for greatness" requires slightly more explanation. If your hero is the subject of a prophecy (like Starbuck), or is "the One" like Neo, then he/she is marked for greatness. Captain Kirk wasn't marked for greatness on the original Star Trek TV show, but we have a strong suspicion that the new Trek movie, by revisiting his origins, will show that he was marked for great things from the beginning. "Not tied down" doesn't just mean being single: it means that you get to roam around having adventures. And at the end of an adventure, you jump in your spaceship and zoom off to the next adventure somewhere else. Captain Kirk wasn't tied down, but Captain Sisko was. "Becomes a god or king" means your character ends up with a lot of people looking up to him/her. The Hulk, for example, is destined either to become a ruler, the Maestro, or the last survivor of Earth. Captain Kirk becomes an admiral, but more importantly he becomes a legend in his own time. The Doctor becomes the last of the Time Lords, and gets called a god a lot. Neo turns into the blind buddha Jesus monster, or something. More »

The Unknown Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy Prequel You've Already Read

Graeme McMillan — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:20:00 PDT

Seven years after his death, an unfulfilled idea of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy creator Douglas Adams is about to come to fruition, as the BBC prepares to bring unlikely detective Dirk Gently into the Hitchhikers universe in a new radio series. This strange move is a result of creative frustrations that led Adams to consider changing the unfinished third Dirk Gently novel (following on from Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea-Time Of The Soul) into a book from the Hitchhikers series. More »

What's the Singular of "Fish"?

Nivair H. Gabriel — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:00:00 PDT

If you've been watching Doctor Who at all this season (and you should, if only for Catherine Tate), you'll know that the show has been laying subtle ground for giant Earth doom that somehow relates to the recent real-life phenomenon of disappearing bees. In fact, it's worse than even Who producer Russell T Davies knows: Fish are checking out, too. More »

Now You Can Have the Real Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Annalee Newitz — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:37:36 PDT

In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, the most indispensible form of technology is the Hitchhiker's Guide itself, a pocket computer containing information (some of it wildly inaccurate) about every place in the galaxy. Now the good people at Instructables have a posted a cool project that lets you create your very own Guide — just get crappy old handheld PC, stick Linux on it, and fill it entirely with Wikipedia. Presto, your own somewhat-inaccurate computerized guide to everything in the galaxy. Don't forget your towel! [Instructables via Hackaday] More »

Secret History of Infocom's Never-Released "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" Game

Annalee Newitz — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:16:30 PDT

One of the coolest text adventure games of the 1980s was Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, based on Douglas Adams' bestselling novel of the same name. Though the game was wildly popular, and a sequel to it was rumored repeatedly, nobody has ever known exactly what happened to that sequel. Until now. Andy Baio, the investigative journo-technologist at Waxy, has received a mysterious network drive from which he recovered all the notes, plans, emails, and information about what Infocom was going to do with the sequel that would have been called Milliways. And he's published it for all to see. More »

Sci Fi Must Be Pretty Above All?

Graeme McMillan — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:11:19 PDT

Never mind the quality, dig the visuals. That's the sentiment being expressed over at Warren Ellis's Whitechapel message board, where fans are talking about the films that may not be very good, but are still very watchable. What are their suggestions for what looks great but ultimately tastes less so? More »

Genocidal Aliens Have A Pure Artistic Vision

charliejane — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 16:10:07 PST

If only Spielberg's War Of The Worlds movie had looked as cool as this painted concept art, we'd still be rewatching it. The concept art is often grander and bigger than what ends up on the screen — even for movies we love — because of real-world constraints. Click through for a gallery of the greatest concept art from Serenity, Hitchhiker's Guide and Alien vs. Predator, mostly because it's Friday. More »

New Proof That Every Scifi Epic Is Based On Joseph Campbell

charliejane — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:00:23 PST

Why do so many adventure movies seem to have the same story? A lot of the blame goes to the Hero's Journey, a cookie-cutter spiritual-ish adventure recipe concocted by Joseph Campbell in 1949. Star Wars and many fantasy sagas famously follow this treasure map step by step, but how do other science fiction stories measure up? We score scifi stories on our "Hero's Journey" checklist, after the jump. More »

In SF, Third Breast Is More Common Than Third Eye

charliejane — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:30:00 PST

Why does science fiction love extra breasts so much? Blame Douglas Adams, who threw in a reference to the triple-breasted whore Eccentrica Gallumbits in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It sounded all sophisticated and sly coming from a Brit. But then William Shatner and Paul Verhoeven got their hands on the concept. Star Trek V, Shatner's directorial debut and swansong, features a three-breasted cat dancer (above) who wrestles Captain Kirk. In Total Recall a year later, a sex-worker flashes her accessory breast at Arnie, who miraculously doesn't grope her. How long before we have three breasts in 3-D? Find out in our gallery. (NSFW below the fold.) More »