SciFi Tech Talk

The series is set in the year 2517, after the arrival of humans in a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of Serenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship. The ensemble cast portrays the nine characters who live on Serenity. Whedon pitched the show as "nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things." The show explores the lives of some people who fought on the losing side of a civil war and others who now make a living on the outskirts of society, as part of the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system. In addition, it is a future where the only two surviving superpowers, the United States and China, fused to form the central federal government, called the Alliance, resulting in the fusion of the two cultures. According to Whedon's vision, "nothing will change in the future: technology will advance, but we will still have the same political, moral, and ethical problems as today."

As America reels from the bizarre presidential assassination committed by a child, seven men are abducted from their normal lives and delivered to a secret government facility. Each man has his own career, his own specialty … and all are identical in appearance.

Prophets of Science Fiction is a Science Channel series looking at 8 of the greatest sci-fi writers and their contributions to the art and to science itself. Among the authors in the series are Isaac Asimov, Jules Verne, Robert Heinlein and the subject of this podcast Arthur C. Clarke.Some sci-fi storytellers are content to merely predict, but Sir Arthur C. Clarke creates. The writer is single-handedly responsible for the cornerstone of modern telecommunication technology: the satellite. Clarke's collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick on the iconic 2001 predicted videophones, iPads, and commercial spaceflight, while redefining science-fiction cinema for a new generation.

The first season of the American science fiction television series Fringe commenced airing on the Fox network on September 9, 2008, and concluded on May 12, 2009. ... The first season introduces a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security. The team uses unorthodox "fringe" science and FBI investigative techniques to investigate a series of unexplained, often ghastly occurrences, which are related to mysteries surrounding a parallel universe. FBI agent Olivia Dunham is portrayed by actress Anna Torv, while actors Joshua Jackson and John Noble play father-son duo Peter and Walter Bishop. - Wikipedia

The Golden Age of Sail has Returned - In the Year 2352
When his mother dies in a flitter crash, eighteen-year-old Ishmael Horatio Wang must find a job with the planet company or leave the system--and NerisCo isn't hiring. With credits running low, and prospects limited, he has just one hope...to enlist for two years with a deep space commercial freighter. Ishmael, who only rarely visited the Neris Orbital, and has never been off-planet alone before, finds himself part of an eclectic crew sailing a deep space leviathan between the stars. - from Amazon description

The Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species.The book describes a complex alien civilization, the Moties. The Moties are radically different (both physically and psychologically) from humanity in ways that become more clear over the course of the book. The human characters range from the typical hero-type in Captain Roderick Blaine to the much more ambiguous merchant prince and suspected traitor Horace Bury. The novel is an example of hard science fiction in that close attention is paid to scientific detail. - Wikipedia

This week we look at the Stargate franchise through the Continuum movie. The paradox of time travel is explored along with the technologies of multiple cultures and time periods.

This week's episode focuses on Logan's Run, a 1976 film that portrays a society kept in equilibrium by killing off everyone over 30. Free from responsibilities, free from consequences, free to seek pleasure at all times. Until your time's up. What happens when Logan runs from his fate and discovers a world he never knew existed.

Trying the different approach to the podcast yet again this week. Julie, Jeff, and Mike discuss clothing/fashion and how it's depicted in scifi. And a bit of real science slips in a bit too.

Trying the different approach to the podcast yet again this week. Julie, Jeff, and Mike discuss Mars and how it's depicted in scifi. And a bit of real science slips in a bit too.