Retro

A Spaceship On Fire Off The Shoulder Of Orion

Actually, we aren't sure if this is Orion, but we just couldn't pass up a nice Blade Runner reference. This spaceship or space station looks like it's been attacked and is about to fall victim to the gravity of the planet below, and it couldn't be more beautiful. More »

11:54 AM on Thu Mar 27 2008
By Kevin Kelly
4,424 views, 63 comments

Latest by PreDefined: I first saw it in here: [www.amazon.com] A great art book if you can find it. more »

recommendation

Fire A Retro Rocket Into Your Living Room

If you want to snaz up your rumpus room with a retro-pop science fiction look, your options have been limited to old posters from The Day The Earth Stood Still or glow-in-the-dark stickers. But now you can have install actual vintage-looking rockets, from Cool Rockets. They obsess over details in their rocket designs, making sure they capture that old-school feeling of Tom Swift gee whizzery. More »

3:00 PM on Wed Feb 13 2008
By Kevin Kelly
864 views, 4 comments

toys of yesteryear

Alphie The "Educational" Robot

On Christmas Day in 1978, kids across the U.S. unwrapped Alphie and gloated, "Wow! Cool! A robot of my very own!" Unfortunately, however, Alphie wasn't equipped with lasers, missiles, or nuclear death rays. In fact, he couldn't even move. He only had a few blinking red lights and a blatty musical tone that farted out "London Bridge Is Falling Down." But Playskool suckered parents into getting this for their kids by calling it "educational." More »

8:30 AM on Fri Dec 7 2007
By Kevin Kelly
171 views, 1 comment

found footage

Disco Skating In The Twenty-Fifth Century With Buck Rogers

If you don't know why the early-1980s Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV series is damn near perfect, then this clip from the episode "Escape from Wedded Bliss" will explain it all to you. Earth is in danger because evil Princess Ardala (wearing the purple spangly lingerie and tiara) has declared that she'll use her superweapon to destroy New Chicago unless Buck agrees to marry her. When she zooms down to meet up with Buck, the Earthies throw a reception for her with "traditional folk dancing" which turns out to be disco skating. As if that weren't enough to make you weep with joy, we see Ardala giving Buck the old predatory eye, while two soldiers behind her sport the Gay Uniforms of the future: all white polyester knit with rainbow armbands. Don't thank me for this clip, thank Buck Rogers exec producer Glen Larson, who also worked on the 1980s Battlestar Galactica.

3:38 PM on Tue Oct 9 2007
By Annalee Newitz
612 views, 1 comment

Latest by madflava: LOL, I've been looking for this. Has anyone found the "Light Rope Dance" scene. more »

space age

Sputnik Is Officially Old Fart Technology

Fifty years ago, the Space Age was born with the flight of Soviet satellite Sputnik, and with that came the age of Surveillance Paranoia. More Sputnik fetish photography available from your pals at NASA.

1:22 PM on Thu Oct 4 2007
By Annalee Newitz
13 views, Comment

the last starfighter

Must See: The Last Starfighter

Must-see movies are futuristic classics that shouldn't be missed. Of course, not every must-see is perfect. That's why we've rated them 1-5 on the patented "crunchy goodness" scale. Written by Sherilyn Connelly.

Title: The Last Starfighter
Date: 1984

Vitals: A bored teenager in a trailer gets the high score on a video game and is recruited into an actual space battle. (The original premise, in which he gets laid because of the high score, was rejected as too far-fetched.)

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2:15 PM on Tue Oct 2 2007
By Annalee Newitz
100 views, Comment

solaris

Must See: Solaris

Must-see movies are futuristic classics that shouldn't be missed. Of course, not every must-see is perfect. That's why we've rated them 1-5 on the patented "crunchy goodness" scale.

Title: Solaris
Date: 1972

Vitals:Andrei Tarkovsky's adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's novel called The Soviet 2001; some would argue it's better as a movie. A group of astronauts are sent to find out what happened to a previous mission to an alien planet covered in an ocean of organic matter that may be reaching out to the astronaut's dreams.

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6:18 PM on Mon Oct 1 2007
By Annalee Newitz
140 views, Comment

wonder woman

Must See: Wonder Woman

Must-see TV shows are futuristic classics that shouldn't be missed. Of course, not every must-see is perfect. That's why we've rated them 1-5 on the patented "crunchy goodness" scale.

Title: Wonder Woman
Date: 1975-1979

Vitals: An Amazon from an all-woman island paradise travels to America to fight Nazis — and then hops forward a few decades to fight disco.

Famous names: Lynda Carter, Lyle Waggoner, Norman Burton, Douglas S. Cramer

More »

10:52 PM on Sun Sep 30 2007
By charliejane
49 views, Comment

io9

Exclusive: First Details Of Ron Moore's New Show Virtuality

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