[SF/F/H Link Post] The Best Space Show Since Firefly; Trying to Build a Space Elevator; X-File’s Return

Interviews & Profiles

• A Fantastical Librarian interviews David Thomas Moore, editor at Abaddon Books.
• Geek’s Guide interviews Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky.
• Ginger Nuts of Horror interviews John Connolly, author of Night Music.
• The Qwillery interviews Lisa Goldstein, author of Weighing Shadows.
• X-Files Creator Chris Carter on Why It’s a Perfect Time to Revisit the Series.

News

• A black hole could support life on a nearby planet, or, at least, murderous cyborgs.
• Steven Moffat is stepping down as showrunner of Doctor Who. Chris Chibnall, a longtime Who fan who has written episodes for both Who and Torchwood, as well as acting as showrunner for David Tennant in Broadchurch, will be taking his place. (Here’s Chibnall expressing his opinions on Who in 1986.)

Events & Event News

• Ian Hunter reports on the 2015 British Fantasy Convention in Nottingham, Great Britain.
• Level Up Your Writing By Applying For These 3 Writer’s Workshops.
• The next installment in the The Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council evening author readings series is two weeks away! On Friday, Jan 29: Caitlin Kiernan, Jeffrey Thomas, Scott Thomas! Saturday, Jan 30: Paul Tremblay, John Langan, and special guest TBA!
• Sue Burke reports on Spain’s national convention was held on 30th October – 1st November 2015 in Granada.

Crowd Funding

• Nova Aetas: Dark Renaissance Tactical Game – a co-operative board game inspired by tactical RPGs, mixing an innovative system of player activation and an original AI.
• XenoShyft: Dreadmire – Partner up with your friends to survive wave after wave of horrific aliens in this cooperative deck-building base-defense game!

Articles

• Movie Review: The 5th Wave called “horror without fear, science fiction without ideas.”
• TV Review: ARS Technica calls The 100 “the bleak sci-fi dystopia you should be watching.”
• Carl Sagan Explains Your Mother.
• The Atlantic on Dana Scully and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsuit.
• The Expanse Is A Rare Sci-Fi Show That Gets Simulated Gravity Right says Forbes.
• The Expanse reveals the biggest problem everyone ignores about space travel.
• Female leads, diversity and an engagement with complex global issues makes science-fiction so popular among young people.
• Geek.com recommends the 11 best British sci-fi shows you’ve never watched.
• Harlan Ellison Returns With A ‘Can’tankerous’ New Collection. [via Paul Di Filippo]
• Kevin Kelly on Artificial Intelligence and Designer Babies.
• Lauren Katz admits The Force Awakens is the only Star Wars movie I’ve seen and asks Can I guess what happened in the original?
• The Nostalgic Science Fiction of “The X-Files.”
• People Are Still Trying to Build a Space Elevator: key players have distanced themselves from the concept, but a new film examines the debate behind the sci-fi staple.
• PopMatters remembers the Sci-Fi TV of the Disco Era.
• Rule, Britannica by John Crowley. [via Paul Di Filippo]
• SyFy’s The Expanse is the best space show since Firefly.
• These “Seven TV Finales That Went Out of Their Way to Anger Fans” are basically all sci-fi, but strangely they forgot to include Lone Gunmen, Blake’s 7, and Firefly (which enraged fans merely by the fact of ending), and about twenty other prematurely aborted Fox sci-fi series, including Millenium.
• The X-Files: Complete Guide to the Mythology, courtesy of ScreenRant.
• Why science-fiction writers find it so hard to discuss climate tech.
• Why Transhumanism Will Not (And Should Not) Become The Political Mainstream.

Art

• Atlantic Star Wars: Photographer Craig Mann works on a drilling rig in the harsh Atlantic ocean. In his spare time he’s recreated scenes from Star Wars photoshopping the characters onto the rig.
• David Weiberg built this Star Trek: TOS Enterprise Bridge Playset for his son.
• “The Force Project” by San José, Costa Rica-based Miguel Abarca.
• Museum-quality Star Wars Busts by A Hidden Lab.

More Fun Stuff

• How will we dance in the future? The 1966 German science fiction series Raumpatrouille Orion has a few ideas in this hilariously good-bad clip.
• Infographic: Future Technologies we can Expect from Films.
• A NASA Scientist Discusses Whether Planets from popular sci-fi series are Realistic.
• Possible undiscovered planets in our Solar System.
• Someone built a real burning lightsaber that runs on alcohol.
• Tested chats with Prop Builder Gordon Tarpley who specializes in C-3PO costumes.
• This TED-Ed lesson by Matthew Borths and Adam Pritchard of the Past Time podcast and Mike D’Emic looks at past mass extinction events and what they can teach us.
• Watch a trailer for It’s Not Rocket Science, a new animated comedy science series starring Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.
• Watch a trailer for Allegiant, the new Divergent movie.
• Watch This Robot Solve a Rubik’s Cube in Less Than 2 Seconds.