space porn
See that cool pattern around this edge-on spiral galaxy, NGC 5907? The one that sort of looks like two halos? Those are the only remains of another galaxy, which NGC 5907 slaughtered in cold blood. (Or maybe cold dark matter?) We've
shown you
galaxies colliding before, but here's an arresting look at the aftermath of one of those galactic hit-and-runs, courtesy of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. These "
stellar fossils," or "
ghost galaxies," result from the spiral galaxy's collision with a dwarf galaxy, which it mostly absorbed. Click through to see a bigger image, plus a look at NGC 4013's "ghost trail."
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Hollywood Slavebots
It's a good year to be a comic book writer. You can't throw a collectible at a Con without hitting a graphic novel that's just been optioned for a movie. From Marc Guggenheim's
Resurrection to
Hiding In Time, comics are the new Hollywood pitches. And are Japanese manga and anime next?
Astro Boy's studio Imagi just got a hefty
new investor, so it's looking more and more as if 2009 will be the year of the big-screen anime adaptation.
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ultimate origins
Looking to remind fans that they have this once-popular imprint called "the Ultimate line," Marvel has released a list of their top ten reasons to read the first issue of imprint rebrand book
Ultimate Origins. Unsurprisingly, four of them mention the origin of something or someone.
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sci fi channel
As if to prove the truth behind that whole "one step forward, two steps back" thing, the
Sci Fi Channel announced a new deal with CBS Television that not only gives them the cable rights to
Star Trek: The Next Generation and
Mork and Mindy, but also
Charmed and... well,
The Ghost Whisperer and
Friday the 13th: The Series. If you're wondering what those last three have to do with science fiction, the official press release is happy to tell you that that's not what the Sci Fi Channel is all about these days.
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ghost in the shell
Ghost in the Shell, a classic
anime cyberpunk flick from the 1990s, has mesmerized fans for years with its brutal-but-philosophical story of what happens to a woman's identity when she merges with technology on physical and psychological levels. Set in 2029, the movie starts out as a pure actioner with our cybercop hero Motoko sleuthing to stop terrorists in New Port City. But as Motoko's fate becomes intertwined with an anomalous, self-defining A.I., the movie veers into
2001-ish surrealism. At last, this brainfarm flick is getting an English remake, but unfortunately it's care of
Steven Spielberg.
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stealth science fiction
The greatest science fiction movies sometimes aren't labeled as science fiction at all. As with literary novels like
The Road and
The Confessions of Max Tivoli, some classic movies explore alternate or futuristic worlds, even as they slip under the radar of mainstream (or alternative) audiences. Call them slipstream, or "
stealth science fiction." Here's our list of 15 great movies you may be familiar with, but didn't know were science fiction.
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monkeys in space
With
Space Chimps officially the most anticipated monkey movie of the summer, it's time to take a serious look at our spacefaring simian cousins. (Especially after we discovered our readers are
as obsessed with monkeys as we are.) And it turns out there are way more of them than we'd realized, including space-monkey entrepreneurs, superheroes, supervillains and half-monkey half-robot killers. Click through for the complete list of space-faring simians!
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Bollywood Knows Exactly Who They're Gonna Call
The Indian film industry decided the time was finally right for a
Ghostbusters remake, and a Bollywood version of the film is on its way.
Sanjay Dutt, who is out on bail after he got busted for buying guns from terrorists, will star and produce. Just how does this all fit in with the Gatekeeper and the Keymaster? We aren't sure, but expect a lot of singing and dancing ... and we can't wait to see the new proton packs.
[Bollyvista]
Will A New President Give Us Better Scifi?
Dave Howe is taking over the reins as president of the
Sci Fi Channel from Bonnie "I Cancelled
Farscape" Hammer, and he has plans to grow the channel into a "lifestyle" brand. It's not yet clear what this means, but be prepared for things like a clothing line, breakfast cereal, women's fragrance, and neural implants. He also wants Universal to create a Sci Fi Channel movie label, which would be fine with us. In fact, we wonder if it's just a matter of time before there's a
Battlestar Galactica big-screen movie. However, he also wants to have a lot more "reality" shows like
Ghost Hunters, to which we collectively boo. Spin off a "Supernatural" Channel and you can put that spooky bunk on there. In the meantime, more death rays, aliens, and robots, please. [
Variety]
terminator
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles starts its two-night premiere next Sunday, and you may have seen some of the new
posters promoting the show, including with one with a topless (and bottomless) Summer Glau hanging from cables with all of her, uh... cybernetics exposed. But it turns out the old android babe with wires dangling from her severed torso isn't exactly a new image in science fiction. We've found at least four others. Take a look below and see for yourself (including mildly NSFW images.)
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Ernie Hudson Wants 'Ghostbusters 3' To Call
Ernie Hudson hopes the new
Ghostbusters video game coming out next year means
Ghostbusters 3 will be haunting theaters. The game features Hudson's voice, along with the voices of
Bill Murray,
Harold Ramis and
Dan Aykroyd, who wrote the game. The fact that Aykroyd was able to assemble all the original talent for this game may be a good sign for
Ghostbusters 3 and 4, which already have Aykroyd-penned scripts. We say the best move would be to call it
Ghostbusters 2, so we can rid our brains of the nasty slime that terrible sequel left behind.
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