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Space Spin » Coolest spacecraft ever in orbit around L2
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:55:02 -0700
Last night, the detectors of Planck's High Frequency Instrument reached their amazingly low operational temperature of -273°C, making them the coldest known objects in space. The spacecraft has also just entered its final orbit around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, L2. Planck is equipped with a passive cooling system that ...

Space Spin » Fermi reveals a population of radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars (video)
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:40:23 -0700
A new class of pulsars detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is solving the mystery of previously unidentified gamma-ray sources and helping scientists understand the mechanisms behind pulsar emissions. A study to be published by an international team of scientists in the July 2 edition of Science Express describes 16 pulsars discove...

Space Spin » Many characteristics of Mars, including ice, are similar to Earth, paper says
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:11:19 -0700
Mars gets as far as 250 million miles away, but many parts of it closely resemble places on Earth, including its landscape, history of water, soil and even its weather, says a Texas A&M University researcher in the current issue of Science magazine. Mark Lemmon, a professor of atmospheric sciences who has been involved with Mars missions for year...

SCIFI.COM » SCI FI Wire takes the holiday weekend off
Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:46:21 -0700
Because of the Fourth of July holiday, SCI FI Wire will not be updated again until Monday. ...

SF Signal » Stargate SG-1 Watchathon - 'The Enemy Within'
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:25:00 -0700
We're finally off the pilot and on to new episodes. "The Enemy Within" is a rather decent episode. We get to see the ramifications of Teal'c switching sides, the politics in play between SGC and Washington and the usefulness of the iris in stopping travelers. We also see the base self-destruct mechanism used as a fail-safe device in case of invasio...

SF Signal » Friday YouTube: Wonder Woman Says, 'Don't put that in your mouth!'
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:15:00 -0700
Wonder Woman Makes a Great Safety Monitor. I swear, these clips are the reason I grew up to be such a nerd. [via Poe TV]...

SCIFI.COM » The new trailer for the animated comedy Planet 51 has landed
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:39:23 -0700
A new trailer has gone live for the upcoming animated sci-fi family comedy Planet 51, which you can view after the jump....

SF Signal » Free Fiction Samples From PS Publishing
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:01:40 -0700
PS Publishing is making available free fiction samples from their catalog. Here's the first batch (click the free sample links):The Babylonian Trilogy by Sebastien DoubinskyCamp Desolation and an Eschatology of Salt by Uncle RiverEverland and Other Stories by Paul WitcoverHarsh Oases by Paul Di FilippoMystery Hill by Alex IrvineThe Painting and The...

SF Signal » Stargate SG-1 Watchathon - 'Children of the Gods, Pt. 2'
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:03:49 -0700
The pilot episode for Stargate SG-1 concludes in "Children of the Gods, Pt. 2". I'm not sure if these were the episodes I saw way back when, but if they were, I can understand why I wasn't gung-ho on the series. It's not that it's a bad pilot, it's just that I found little to get really excited about. I supposed if you were a big fan of the movie S...

SCIFI.COM » 11 most patriotic sci-fi movie and TV moments
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:45:00 -0700
The long July 4th holiday weekend kicks off tomorrow, which for many of us means trips to the beach, burgers on the grill and fireworks (only where legal, of course). But it should also mean some time spent remembering those patriots who defended our liberty—both the real ones who fought for our freedoms and those fictional ones who on televi...

Space Spin » Phoenix Mission research points to Martian climate cycles
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:40:52 -0700
Four papers in the journal Science this week offer new details about the history of water on Mars, gleaned from the 2008 NASA Phoenix Mars Mission that was operated from The University of Arizona. Peter H. Smith, a scientist with the UA Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and the mission's principal investigator, is the first author of "H2O at the Phoe...

Space Spin » Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter sends first lunar images to Earth
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:26:20 -0700
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has transmitted its first images since reaching lunar orbit June 23. The spacecraft has two cameras -- a low resolution Wide Angle Camera and a high resolution Narrow Angle Camera. Collectively known as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, they were activated June 30. The cameras are working...

SCIFI.COM » New 'House of Imagination' film reflects SCI FI's evolution to Syfy
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:00:00 -0700
A two-minute film, "House of Imagination," has gone live to reflect SCI FI's brand evolution to Syfy on Tuesday, celebrating Syfy's unique spin on imagination. The new film features stars from Warehouse 13, Eureka, Ghost Hunters, Caprica, Sanctuary, Stargate Universe, Destination Truth and ECW. ...

SCIFI.COM » News briefs: Asteroids flies; Defying Gravity drops
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 10:46:19 -0700
The Hollywood Reporter says that Universal has won a four-studio bidding war to pick up the film rights to the classic Atari video game Asteroids, for which Matthew Lopez will write the script; the game, initially released in 1979, lets a player control a triangular spaceship to shoot and destroy hulking masses of rock and the occasional flying sau...

Space Spin » Spirit: Soil investigation continues -- Opportunity: At outcrop for study and rest
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:37:43 -0700
Spirit remains positioned on the west side of Home Plate. The rover has been continuing an ambitious science campaign of extensive observations with the panoramic camera (Pancam) and miniature thermal emission spectrometer (Mini-TES) plus contact science using using all the tools on the robotic arm (instrument deployment device, or IDD). On Sol 1...

Space Spin » HiRISE images for July 1, 2009
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:25:31 -0700
The following new images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft are now available: Martian Zambonis? This image of Mars' south polar area shows an amazing series of elliptical rings. Could these have been made by a Zamboni on Mars driving around and around on the ice? No, of ...

SCIFI.COM » 11 hot things you MUST see at Comic-Con in San Diego this month
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 -0700
Comic-Con can be an overwhelming four days of multimedia spectacle, and unless you can clone yourself or you have access to time travel, there's no way to attend every cool event. That's where we can help. The schedule's not even out yet, but we've already gotten wind of dozens of must-see happenings. For those of you corporeal beings traveling to ...

SCIFI.COM » How Dylan Walsh makes the new Stepfather a killer remake
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:15:00 -0700
Dylan Walsh, who's been playing doctor on Nip/Tuck since 2003, looks like he could use a few stitches himself right about now. Fake flesh hangs from his neck, and he's a bit bloodied up. He's playing the title character in The Stepfather, the upcoming horror film that reboots a cult classic from 1987. Much like the original (which starred Lost's Te...

SCIFI.COM » Review: Lost's first two seasons on Blu-ray aren't just worthwhile—they're essential
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:30:00 -0700
Lost is one of the best sci-fi shows of the last decade, but if you're a longtime viewer, it can also one of the most frustrating. After an explosive start, it struggled to find a comfortable rhythm, answering its initial mysteries at the same time as introducing new ones, abandoning plot developments and new characters even as it constructed even ...

SCIFI.COM » Which supernatural objects you'll see—and one you won't—in Warehouse 13
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:00 -0700
Forget those old Ark of the Covenant and Holy Grail relics that Indiana Jones used to obsess over. In SCI FI Channel's upcoming Warehouse 13, Secret Service agents Pete Lattimer (Eddie McClintock) and Myka Bering (Joanne Kelly) have a more eclectic group of artifacts to track down. "I would have to say that my favorite episode so far has been Lewi...

SCIFI.COM » What's breaking in Eureka: A new romance, some old friends, a big threat
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:00:00 -0700
When SCI FI's Eureka returns for the second half of its third season next week, it will immediately deal with the cliffhanger of Sheriff Carter's (Colin Ferguson) firing. (Spoilers ahead!) Sheriff Andy, a billion-dollar robot, replaces him as Carter looks for a new job. Andy lasts only one episode, but series co-creator and writer/producer Jaime P...

SCIFI.COM » Robert Rodriguez reveals a bit more about Predators and confirms the director
Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:01:42 -0700
Robert Rodriguez, who is writing and producing Predators, confirmed to Ain't It Cool News that Nimrod Antal will direct the movie, and he also offered up a few details about the film, which is supposed to reboot the franchise and move it as far away as possible from the Aliens vs. Predator movies. ...

SCIFI.COM » News briefs: New Farscape DVDs; Avatar banner; Surrogates poster
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:38:16 -0700
Farscape will drop on DVD in The Complete Series Megaset in November as the show marks its 10th anniversary, with all four seasons and hours of extras; executive producer Brian Henson, creator Rockne O'Bannon and stars Ben Browder and Claudia Black will be at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego to discuss their favorite moments from th...

SF Signal » Free Fiction and Stuff for 07/02/2009
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:30:36 -0700
Free Fiction and Stuff [courtesy of QuasarDragon] Reflections Edge has its July issue out with fiction by Jamey Robert Stegmaier, Don Pizarro, Autumn Canter, Tai Dong Huai, Lynn Rushlau, and Robert Laughlin. Lorelei Signal has its July - Sept '09 issue out with fiction and poetry by Gerri Leen, C.L. Holland, Rhonda Porrett, Rhonda Parrish, Ed Blund...

SF Signal » Catching Up on SciFi Movies (Part 3)
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:22:00 -0700
Like before, here are my quick takes on the genre-related films I've watched in the last several weeks. Donnie Darko (2001) - Despite time travel being one of my favorite subgenres of SciFi, this psychological time travel thriller failed to overly impress me. The whole film was spent trying to figure out what was going on in the life of troubl...

SF Signal » Top 20 SF Signal Posts for June 2009
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:13:00 -0700
Here are the top SF Signal posts for June 2009:MIND MELD: Guide to International SF/F (Part I )MIND MELD: Why is Genre Fiction Bleak and What Can Be Done About It?5 Reasons Why You Should Read a Warhammer 40,000 BookMIND MELD: Real-Life Places That Inspire Exceptional World BuildingeBook Readers, or, How To Miss The PointMIND MELD: New SF/F Recomme...

SCIFI.COM » Rumor mill: Live-action Star Wars TV series in preproduction in Australia?
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:31:06 -0700
Our Australian sister site SCI FI TV reports a rumor that preproduction is gearing up for George Lucas' proposed live-action Star Wars series, which is to be shot Down Under....

SF Signal » WINNERS: 'Stargate: Atlantis' Season 5 on DVD
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:00:00 -0700
The winners of our Stargate: Atlantis Season 5 DVD Giveaway have been notified. They are: Lauren L. (Lakewood, CO) David R. (Los Angeles, CA) Christine G. (Winter Garden, FL) Congratulations! The DVDs are on their way... Thanks to everyone who entered....

SCIFI.COM » News briefs: Hornet pushed; Lantern premiere at Comic-Con
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:41:59 -0700
Columbia Pictures has moved director Michel Gondry's comic-strip radio/TV-serial adaptation The Green Hornet back two weeks to July 9, 2010, from June 25, 2010, ERC Box Office reported. ... Green Lantern: First Flight, the fifth entry in the DVD series of DC Universe animated movies, will have its world premiere in Ballroom 20 at Comic-Con in San D...

SF Signal » Stargate SG-1 Watchathon - 'Children of the Gods, Pt. 1'
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:30:31 -0700
I know a lot of people like Stargate SG-1, but I've never been a big fan. Way back when it originally aired on Showtime, I was unable to watch it until it went on syndication and when I was able to see it, I was underwhelmed by the first few episodes. Heck, I was underwhelmed with the original Stargate movie as well. In any case, I never went back ...

Space Spin » XMM-Newton discovers a new class of black holes
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:19:48 -0700
Astronomers using ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory have discovered a black hole weighing more than 500 solar masses, a missing link between lighter stellar-mass and heavier supermassive black holes, in a distant galaxy. This discovery is the best detection to date of a new class that has long been searched for: intermediate mass black holes. Du...

SCIFI.COM » Torchwood's John Barrowman reveals Children of Earth details and why the show may not be done yet
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:22:47 -0700
It's been a long, long wait for the return of Torchwood, but star John Barrowman, who plays Capt. Jack Harkness, promises it will be worth the wait when the series returns on July 20 for consecutive nights on BBC America in a five-episode mini-season called Torchwood: Children of Earth. And if it does well, we could expect more (more on that later)...

Space Spin » Ulysses: 12 extra months of valuable science
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:12:09 -0700
In 2008, Ulysses was expected to cease functioning due to weakening power. But solid engineering know-how and on-the-fly innovation have eked out an additional year of important science returns, which came to an end yesterday. Ulysses, the joint ESA/NASA solar orbiter mission, finally ended yesterday when ground controllers sent commands to shut ...

Space Spin » Largest ever survey of very distant galaxy clusters completed
Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:04:02 -0700
An international team of researchers led by a UC Riverside astronomer has completed the largest ever survey designed to find very distant clusters of galaxies. Named the Spitzer Adaptation of the Red-sequence Cluster Survey, "SpARCS" detects galaxy clusters using deep ground-based optical observations from the CTIO 4m and CFHT 3.6m telescopes, co...

SF Signal » MIND MELD: Guide to International SF/F (Part II)
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:00:00 -0700
There's a great big world out there! So we decided to ask folks from all over about the sf/f scene in their own countries/languages. This week we've got responses from the Netherlands, China, Poland, France, Italy, Finland, Russia and India. And the answers kept pouring in, so we'll be finishing up next week, for a total of three weeks! Q: What is ...

SF Signal » Free Fiction and Stuff for 07/01/2009
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:36:44 -0700
Free Fiction and Stuff [courtesy of QuasarDragon] Electric Spec has its latest issue out with fiction by Devin Miller, Steven J. Dines, D. Lynn Frazier, Chris Doerner, Aaron C. Brown, Gustavo Bondoni, and David E. Hughes and Lesley L. Smith. @Hub: "The Bohemian of the Arbat" by Sarah Pinborough. @Labyrinth Inhabitant Magazine: "Minds Burned White" ...

» AP26 application available for Solaris
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:30:00 -0700
We have released a version of AP26 application for 64bit Solaris (on AMD x86_64 or Intel EM64T CPUs, platform name x86_64-pc-solaris). This is our first application for this platform, which also makes AP26 an application that runs on the most platforms. Thanks to Gerrit Slomma for building the app! Psst... the PS3 version is coming ;) ...

» Record AP24 Found
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:50:00 -0700
PrimeGrid has found a record AP24 (Arithmetic Progression of 24 primes). It is the largest known AP24. It has an ending term of 60312982868878297 surpassing the old record of 25490711550130537. The finder is (AFXTBA Pitheque) of France. He is a member of the L'Alliance Francophone team. The progression is written as 14992521666441877+8832442*23#*n ...

Space Spin » Mapping Mercury's crust
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:24:23 -0700
This image was recently featured in an article in Science magazine about the evolution of Mercury's crust. The top mosaic (A) is an enhanced-color view of the planet created from images taken through the WAC's eleven color filters during MESSENGER's first and second flybys of Mercury. White areas are those that MESSENGER has not yet observed. The...

Space Spin » Geological landforms indicate 'recent' warm weather on Mars
Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:15:02 -0700
New research led by a UK scientist indicates that Mars had significantly warmer weather in its recent past than previously thought. The research, funded by the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters, is good news in our quest for life on Mars, as the shorter the time period since...

SF Signal » REVIEW: The Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:29:00 -0700
REVIEW SUMMARY: Some kids' books are best read by kids. MY RATING: BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A young girl named Emma discovers a magical hotel buried in the sands of a faraway land. MY REVIEW: PROS: Baker's easy-going writing style; colorful characters; positive message for kids. CONS: Missed opportunity giving Emma's back story some import; lacked the magi...

SF Signal » Tuesday Tune of Terror: David Hasselhoff Performs 'This is the Moment' from Jekyll and Hyde on Broadway
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:15:00 -0700
In case there was any doubt that Jekyll and Hyde fell under the label of horror... [via Poe TV]...

SF Signal » Free Fiction and Stuff for 06/30/2009
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:08:03 -0700
Free Fiction and Stuff [courtesy of QuasarDragon] @Manybooks: Astounding Stories of Super-Science September 1930. @Book View Cafe: "Thin Man" by Steven Piziks (1997). @Strange Horizons: "River of Heaven" by Rachel Manija Brown. @Big Pulp:"The Beast" by Jennifer Povey. "Code Violation" by William Meikle. @Audio Fiction:@Beam Me Up: Part two, the co...

SF Signal » In Case You Missed It: Virtuality
Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:39:33 -0700
If you're like most of America, you missed Fox's premiere of Ron Moore's new SF show, Virtuality. We here at SF Signal also missed it so that's why we decided it was a good idea for all of us to find out why no one watched Virtuality. Together. Don't say we aren't a caring bunch. Let us know what you think after watching, or if actually did watch y...

SETI@home » Project News June 29, 2009
Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:00:00 -0700
We updated the SERENDIP web site, now containing information about our recent trip to Arecibo (to install the new instrument and do some testing)....

Einstein@Home » Project News June 29, 2009
Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:00:00 -0700
The Einstein@Home project suffered a fileserver crash and has been offline for the last few days as a result. The project is finally online again and should be back to normal soon....

SIMAP » New Workunits in the evening (UTC) of July 01
Sun, 28 Jun 2009 15:00:00 -0700
New Workunits: the calculation of similarities and features of the new sequences, that were imported from protein databases into SIMAP until the end of June, will start in the evening (UTC) of July 1st....

Space Spin » NASA and NOAA's GOES-O satellite successfully launched
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:57:46 -0700
The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-O, soared into space today after a successful launch from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The GOES-O spacecraft lifted off at 22:51 UTC on a Delta IV rocket. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-O satellite will imp...

Space Spin » Ulysses mission to end
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:22:23 -0700
Upon receipt of the last command from Earth, the transmitter on Ulysses will switch off on 30 June, bringing one of the most successful and longest missions in spaceflight history to an end. After 18.6 years in space and defying several earlier expectations of its demise, the joint ESA/NASA solar orbiter Ulysses will achieve 'end of mission' on 3...

Space Spin » Cassini ISS images - June 22-26, 2009
Sat, 27 Jun 2009 10:21:20 -0700
The following new images taken by the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) on the Cassini spacecraft are now available: Fascinating F Ring (Released 22 June 2009) In the lower center of this image, the Cassini spacecraft captures an intriguing feature of Saturn's tenuous F ring. Serene Enceladus (Released 23 June 2009) Saturn's moon Enceladus looks tr...