7 May 2013

Birthday
Gene Wolfe b. 1931 (won Nebula for The Claw of the Conciliator)

Sci fi isn't all explosions and pretty girls. It always starts with the writing and today, the birthday we celebrate is a Nebula award winner. 

Movies released
Iron Man 2 released, 2010

Iron Man and Marvel's The Avengers are the reasons I want to see Iron Man 3. Iron Man 2 is the reason I don't want to see Iron Man 3. I'll let you know who prevails.

Prediction: 1983: Messenger VI probe visits Mercury and discovers life.

Predictor: Larry Niven in The Coldest Place, published 1964

Reality: Mariner 10 flew by in the mid 1970s, MESSENGER got to Mercury in 2008 and made orbit in 2011. Both are NASA probes. The internationally funded BepiColombo is set for launch in 2015, reaching Mercury in 2022. MESSENGER has found water in ice form as of November 2012. It’s remarkable, but it isn’t life. Just yet.

Over the next few months, Niven will be sharing the Tuesday slot with Heinlein.  Larry loves him some "Hard SF", which means stuff that is technically possible, like exploring the Solar System. In the 1960s, with NASA at its peak, a lot of writers assumed it would be just go-go-GO once we reached the moon, but the public wasn't amazed after the first time and as of now, no one can find a truly profitable reason to go into outer space, a fact which bums out a group of people diverse enough to include Neil deGrasse Tyson and Newt Gingrich.

Sorry, guys. "Hard SF" is even harder than it looks at first glance.

Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!



Wednesday is John Elfreth Watkins day, and he predicts the future of entertainment... IN THE YEAR 2000!

 
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!