trendsel

There's so much to love about this-clip from War Of The Robots. The tongue-flirting. The lightsaber-duels. The disco-bots. But really, it's all about the sound effects.

I would urge interested readers to hunt down Robert Silverberg's beautifully written short story "Lion Time in Timbuctoo". It has a 20th Century CE dominated by Muslim Turks, Africans, Incas, Aztecs, and various Asian powers due to the Black Plague killing three-quarters of the European population rather than the 1/4 or 1/3 that died in reality.

Greater Timbuktoo during the 14th and 16th Centuries CE was an very sophisticated culture with some kickass metallurgy that attracted trade and savants from all over the nascent Islamic world while Europe was stuck in a plague-ridden feudal Hell. I mean c'mon, during the Dark Ages the best they came up with was the windmill and a really cool new horse collar. Okay, there was Francis Bacon, John Jay and a coupla other sharp cats. The Renaissance could have gone a completely different way by a few missed shipments or different whispers in various courtly ears.

Anyone interested in Silverberg's "Lion Time in Timbuctoo" can find it and other wonderful Alternative History stories in Martin Greenburg's The Way It Wasn't: Great Science Fiction Stories of Alternative History 1996, Citadel Twilight (screw Amazon, go to abebooks.com). Out of print I'm sure, but really worth worth hunting down. It has several wonderful stories from such greats as Howard Waldrop's "Ike at the Mike", Fritz Leiber, Gregor Benford, Pamela Sargent, and Barry M. Malzberg. Also included is "The Winterberry" by Nicholas A. Dichardo about a reality where JFK survived that horrible day in Dallas. If you can read that without shedding a tear check yourself into the nearest mausoleum; 'cuz sibling, you have no soul. Just lay down and stop breathing.

By the bye, that Silverberg story is also available in Tor Books Beyond the Gates of the Worlds 1991.

As part of a new campaign to interact with bloggers, the Air Force has issued this complicated flow-chart to teach officers how to comment on blog posts.

Wired's Noah Shachtman has a great post on this over at Danger Room, explaining how it fits into the Air Force's broader strategy to engage with people online and "counter negative opinions" about the armed services. I applaud the military for encouraging its officers and enlisted people to communicate more online - nothing wrong with using blogs for public debate. But there is just something FUBAR about how the Air Force can turn anything into a rigid and overly-complicated flow chart - even the act of chatting informally online.

via Danger Room

Poor little kiddies have been gobbled up by artist Alex Pardee's nightmarish monsters, and will be in an adorably gruesome and intricate art show this week. Check out our haunting gallery.

We got a special sneak peek at Chadam artist Alex Pardee's latest show, "Letters From Digested Children." Its creepy brilliance all hinges on the experience, which includes a monstrous installation, a video and pages upon pages of child-eating monsters. The Teddy Bear monster, and the video screen shots below, are an exclusive never-before-seen treat, just for io9 readers.

Here's the artist, pictured in front of a huge wall of missing-children posters and articles, which is part of the overall experience. Check out all that detail.

Here are two screen shots from the video installation that will be included in the show, featuring real children living inside a monster. Looks like a call for help from inside the belly of the beast. The film is directed by Steven Reedy.

According to the artist the three parts of "Letters From Digested Children" start with a police report documenting the story of the missing child and the monster, the actual paintings themselves, and then the actual SOS letter that the child wrote." Brilliant.

The show premieres this Thursday January 8th at FIFTY24SF Gallery in San Francisco.

The only come-hither looks this lady has are reserved for her spider robot, who is her lover and life companion. Who wouldn't want to marry a pink spider bot, anyway?

Aimé Jalon is a concept designer based in France who has worked on several videogames, and also does a lot of concept art in his spare time. You know, like punk cheesecake featuring pink spider robots. Among other work in his online gallery he's got this awesome zombie poster, which I hope is related to an actual movie/game/book/online thing. Zombies vs. Nuclear Robots is MADE OF WIN.

Images by Aimé Jalon, via Concept Art

When you imagine the center of our galaxy, you think of a howling void (with that famous super-massive black hole at its center.) But this picture, the sharpest yet, shows a center teeming with stars.

The key to obtaining such a sharp image was combining the Hubble Space Telescope's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) with some images gathered by the Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Astronomy Camera (IRAC). Clouds of dust obscure the center of the galaxy from us, but infrared light penetrates those clouds.

It turns out that a population of massive stars fill the hot ionized gas swirling around the inner 300 light years of the galaxy. And the stars are distributed more widely than scientists realized. Says NASA:

Astronomers now see that the massive stars are not confined to one of the three known clusters of massive stars in the Galactic Center, known as the Central cluster, the Arches cluster, and the Quintuplet cluster. These three clusters are easily seen as tight concentrations of bright, massive stars in the NICMOS image. The distributed stars may have formed in isolation, or they may have originated in clusters that have been disrupted by strong gravitational tidal forces.

[Hubble via New Scientist]

Are magazines no longer going to be the source of the best short science fiction? Maybe. Two pieces of news make me wonder.

First of all, Gardner Dozois just announced the table of contents of the next Year's Best SF anthology, and it seems to include a lot of stuff from original anthologies like Eclipse 2, Fast Forward 2, The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Galactic Empires, Fast Ships, Black Sails, Seeds Of Change and others. Maybe I'm on crack, but was there always such a high proportion of the year's best stories from anthologies rather than magazines? (Full list below.)

Meanwhile, the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, the source of a few of those best stories, just announced it's going bi-monthly. (Side note: I'm glad "The Political Prisoner" and "Five Thrillers," my faves from last year's F&SF, made it in.) In practice, this move doesn't mean F&SF will get all that much smaller — it'll be doing all double issues, so there will be only about 10 percent less content in 2009. And I get why it's happening — postage costs are shooting up, and this is a way to reach subscribers more cheaply.

But it also seems to bring the magazine closer to being a bimonthly anthology, instead of a magazine. (To me, part of the distinction between magazines and anthologies is the extreme regularity with which magazines appear. Your mileage, as usual, may vary.) More importantly, it seems to be another stage in the slow, lingering death of the print mags: already, their circulations are plummeting, and they claim less rack space in bookstores and newstands. Coming out half as often means you get half as much visibility in retail venues, since few bookstores will keep you on the shelf for two whole months. It means F&SF is resigning itself to servicing its existing subscriber base, instead of trying to reach new readers via retail distribution.

So here's the full TOC of this year's best:

• TURING’S APPLES, Stephen Baxter (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
• FROM BABEL’S FALL’N GLORY WE FLED, Michael Swanwick (Asimov’s, February 2008)
• THE GAMBLER, Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, ed. Lou Anders)
• BOOJUM, Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (Fast Ships, Black Sails, ed. Ann VanderMeer & Jeff VanderMeer)
• THE SIX DIRECTIONS OF SPACE, Alastair Reynolds (Galactic Empires, ed. Gardner Dozois)
• N-WORDS, Ted Kosmatka (Seeds of Change, ed. John Joseph Adams)
• AN ELIGIBLE BOY, Ian McDonald (Fast Forward 2, ed. Lou Anders)
• SHINING ARMOUR, Dominic Green (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2, ed. George Mann)
• THE HERO, Karl Schroeder (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
• EVIL ROBOT MONKEY, Mary Robinette Kowal (The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume 2, ed. George Mann)
• FIVE THRILLERS, Robert Reed (F & SF, April 2008)
• THE SKY THAT WRAPS THE WORLD ROUND, PAST THE BLUE AND INTO THE BLACK, Jay Lake (Clarkesworld, March 2008)
• INCOMERS, Paul McAuley (The Starry Rift, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
• CRYSTAL NIGHTS, Greg Egan (Interzone, April 2008)
• THE EGG MAN, Mary Rosenblum (Asimov’s, February 2008)
• HIS MASTER’S VOICE, Hannu Rajaniemi (Interzone, October 2008)
• THE POLITICAL PRISONER, Charles Coleman Finlay (F & SF, August 2008)
• BALANCING ACCOUNTS, James L. Cambias (F & SF, February 2008)
• SPECIAL ECONOMICS, Maureen McHugh (The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy, ed. Ellen Datlow)
• DAYS OF WONDER, Geoff Ryman (F & SF, October/November 2008)
• CITY OF THE DEAD, Paul McAuley (Postscripts # 15)
• THE VOYAGE OUT, Gwyneth Jones (Periphery: Erotic Lesbian Futures, ed. Lynne Jamneck)
• THE ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY OF LORD GRIMM, Daryl Gregory (Eclipse 2, ed. Jonathan Strahan)
• G-MEN, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Sideways in Crime, ed. Lou Anders)
• THE ERDMANN NEXUS, Nancy Kress (Asimov’s, October/November 2008)
• OLD FRIENDS, Garth Nix (Dreaming Again, ed. Jack Dann)
• THE RAY-GUN: A LOVE STORY, James Alan Gardner (Asimov’s, February 2008)
• LESTER YOUNG AND THE JUPITER’S MOONS’ BLUES, Gord Sellar (Asimov’s, July 2008)
• BUTTERFLY, FALLING AT DAWN, Aliete de Bodard (Interzone, November 2008)
• THE TEAR, Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires, ed. Gardner Dozois)

The end is nigh for Stargate Atlantis — this Friday marks the series finale. We've screened the last SGA episode ever, and want to share some (virtually) spoiler-free details with you.

The episode picks up right where last weeks alternate-reality CSI episode ended. And let me say, "Vegas" was a fun little forensic, cop show mystery. It was almost sad how much I enjoyed this crazy deviation from the regular SGA series, because I knew there would never be another. But bravo, Joe Flanigan, for a fun time as a lone-wolf detective in the hot Nevada desert.

But in the season finale, the crew's worst nightmares have come true and the evil frog-skinned Wraith have found a way to the Milky Way Galaxy. Which means a fate worse than death for the Earth.

So what does the SGA crew do? Call on some old friends! As it's been widely reported, Amanda Tapping pops in as Colonel Samantha Carter, giving a much-needed heartfelt shout out to long-gone cast members, and bringing a few old SG1-ers aboard. And just for a mere instant, we're reminded of the SG1 beginnings of some of our beloved SGA crew.

Richard Woolsey passes out warm fuzzy feelings amongst the crew, solidifying his place among the cast, and his personal growth as a character. We will so miss Robert Picardo's adorable mug each week.

The crew has to scramble to protect the Earth, and a great battle ensues — in the sky, on land and in a Wraith ship. Limits are tested, Sheppard is forced to do everything himself again for a while, and sciencey jargon is heaped on top of sciencey jargon.

At the climax you'll raise your hands and say no — how can it be? Will this be the final episode for some of our dear SGA crew members? Possibly, but then again, it is Stargate. Overall, it's a nice long hug with good dose of drama to send you off into the good night, remembering why it is you came to love each character. (Oh, and Teyla only has a few lines, so good all around).

I may be the only person here who's thrilled and excited by the return of Kyle XY, ABC Family's dramedy about a teen with special powers. (But I may write a giant post in a few days trying to convince you to check it out, anyway. It's way better than you think it is, although it's not Middleman good.) In any case, you can watch next week's season opener online right now. Check it out! [E! Online]

Already missing Doctor Who's tenth Doctor? You can grow your own, thanks to this handy (ha) DIY kit. Meanwhile, overcome your doubts about the eleventh Doctor by watching him sleep with Rose Tyler.

The make-your-own-tenth-Doctor kit is something you can make yourself at home — all you need is the card, the little bottle full of some kind of green liquid, a hand (from an action figure), and a chain. Sadly, I can't find the original source of the image — all I found is this person on Etsy begging for someone to make it for them and send it to New Zealand for $5.

If you're the creator of the kit, or you know who is, please drop me a line and I'll credit her or him properly at once.

But don't panic! The new eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, got a ringing endorsement from the Moff himself (no, not our Moff), Steven Moffat. Says new executive producer Moffat:

The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe.

As soon as Matt walked through the door, and blew us away with a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord, we knew we had our man.

Haters of his current hairstyle will be sad, though, to know that Moffat also cited Smith's touseled coiffure as one of the reasons he'll be a great Doctor. Also, says producer Piers Wenger:

There's a quirkiness to him, an unevenness to his face, a lot of stuff going on behind the eyes. He hasn't got an entirely modern face.

(Honestly the more I think about it, the more I agree with Tom Baker, who always said the role of the Doctor is "actor-proof.") But should you still entertain nagging doubts, here's a clip of the new Doctor hooking up with Rose Tyler, from episode six of "Diary Of A Call Girl":

[clip via SunnyTyler001]

Worried that Transformers may have inspired a spate of gimmicky movies based on the toys of your youth that'll ruin your childhood nostalgia? You may want to avoid this post, just in case.

Admittedly, the news (via Variety) that movies are planned for the Magic 8-Ball, Barbie, Hot Wheels and He-Man may sound like overkill, but apparently all of the movies will be done with something approaching integrity, according to Mattel's VP for entertainment and marketing, Barry Waldo:

[Hot Wheels is] a billion-dollar brand for us. We want to continue making it relevant for kids [but w]e won't have the cars talk... That would be off brand position for us. It won't be another 'Knight Rider,' I promise that.

Phew, that's a relief... until you read that the movie may be based upon Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5, a new cartoon due to premiere on Cartoon Network this year that apparently sees the non-talking cars fighting "intergalactic" crime.

Getting slightly better treatment is He-Man, whose movie will apparently serve to reintroduce the character and concept to a mainstream audience, without sacrificing what made him the muscle-bound hero of so many children's homo-erotic fantasies. Variety quotes Waldo as saying,

There's a fine line to walk between staying loyal and true to the fan community and doing what we need to do to bring the idea to the masses in a way that's going to be relevant today and be something that hasn't been done before... we always start out not wanting to make a long toy commercial. We want to make a credible story that will make people go to the theater.

A credible story? That'll be a step up from Transformers, then.

Studios tell toy stories [Variety]

Check out that piece of cellophane-like material: it's actually filled with transparent circuits, using carbon nanotube transistors. Scientists have been fabricating transparent circuits for years, but now they're getting way closer to commercial viability.

Researchers at the University of Southern California say, in a new paper, that they've succeeded in fabricating transparent thin-film transistors (TTFTs) at low temperatures, by using carbon nanotubes. Colder fabrication means it's cheaper to make them, and it also raises the "device mobility," which enables fast operation and lowers power consumption. It also allows you to put the TTFTs into more flexible substances, as opposed to just panes of glass.

In other words, low-temperature fabrication and high mobility is the key to dream applications, like "e-paper, wearable display, smart tag, and artificial skin (E-skin)." I totally want my skin to have tattoos that change color or shape depending on my mood or level of drunkenness. Can we have that by next week, please? [ACS Nano via Nanowerk]

Doris is a young English peasant kidnapped by African slavers, who ship her across the Atlantic. So begins this action-packed, though uneven, tale of white slavery and black imperialism by Bernardine Evaristo.

Already a critical hit in the UK, Blonde Roots comes out stateside on January 22. While Blonde Roots tells a fast-paced story, often with bits of inspired satire, it suffers from several basic problems. Probably the most obvious is that Evaristo can't seem to decide if she's writing an alternate history or just a satire. Doing either is a tall order: There's a potential for oversimplified allegory in any story that offers such a basic historical switcheroo.

Creating an original, compelling tale (or a biting social commentary) requires more than simply asserting "this time the Africans are slavers!" We want some explanation about why history has reversed itself, which Evaristo never provides. Did Africans invent seagoing vessels before Europeans? Did they invent gunpowder? What gave them the advantage in the Atlantic trade zone during the Renaissance Era? This isn't a request that the book be more like pulpy alternative history - after all, Kim Stanley Robinson explains his alternate history in The Years of Rice and Salt with one, graceful note. In his world, the medieval plagues wiped out almost the entire European population, allowing Muslim kingdoms to colonize Europe, and installing Islam as the dominant culture of the West.

Without any kind of coherent world-building, Evaristo seems bent on creating a simplistic but confused satire of contemporary England. Doris is a house slave in "Londolo," a racially-inverted London where everyone drinks coffee at "Starbright," and the rich wear bones in their noses and listen to rave music. The few free whites pay exorbitant amounts to get their skins darkened, their noses broadened with surgery, and fashionable Afros glued to their shaved heads.

The satire here feels a little hackneyed, and relies for its effectiveness on our "shock" that black standards of beauty might be different from white. Perhaps this is a cultural difference between UK and US audiences, but I feel like this is a lesson we've all learned before, from far more persuasive thinkers.

Still, Evaristo's story of Doris' imprisonment and escape are heartwrenching and compelling. As Doris flees from her master in Londolo, with help from the underground railroad (here, abandoned tube tunnels), we learn her story in flashbacks. She's been a house slave, more psychologically abused than physically, and she's lost everything she loved: Her original family, the man she loved, and the children her master sold before she could even nurse them. Doris' wrath at her first mistress - who pretended to be her friend, but controlled her completely - is a well-observed tale of how slavery can warp consciousness no matter what racial group is in charge.

And though a lot of the satire feels forced, Evaristo reaches a frenzy of brilliance in a rather lengthy section of the book which she writes in the voice of Doris' master Bwana. It's his published account of how he became a powerful slave trader, and why it is merciful to enslave the mentally-defective white people whose narrow heads clearly show that their brains are inferior. Written in faux eighteenth-century prose, this section of the novel really soars and shows what Evaristo is capable of when she merges smart historical observation with her deliciously dark sense of humor.

You won't be able to put Blonde Roots down, because Doris' adventures are intense and the plot moves at such breakneck speed. But if you're looking for a thoughtful exploration of how master and slave are accidents of history, you won't find it here. Evaristo's mashed-up eighteenth/twenty-first century Londolo, and her unexplained historical twists, make this novel a failed exercise in world-building. But it's one I found intriguing despite its flaws.

Blonde Roots [via Amazon (pre-orders) or Amazon.uk (in stock)]

Another review of the first episode of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse has appeared online, and like the first, it describes a show that could be excellent. Time to get nervous yet?

Television review site The TV Addict - written by a self-declared "Whedon fanboy" - has had a chance to see the first episode of the new Fox drama, but their verdict isn't entirely one of slavish devotion:

I’m not going to lie, it’s not perfect. There are a few missteps — and some even glaring mistakes — made in the first episode, but there is a lot of potential in the concept, in the characters and in the story... This is actually the second episode filmed for DOLLHOUSE, the initial pilot was rejected by Fox, which is probably why this episode feels like there’s a lot handed to you in terms of exposition. Clunky lines like, “Let’s have no ex-cop heroics, huh?� hinder the flow of the show and make me think, “Come on, Whedon, you’re a better writer than that. There must have been a more elegant way to introduce that.� There are also moments that make me think, “Whedon, you’re a better director than that.� In a couple scenes it seems that Whedon can’t get the actors to the emotional place he needs them to, especially during the opening scene which really hurts this episode.

It isn't entirely bad news, however; the review also tells fans "fear not [because the] first episode is mostly good and it’s something to be excited about," before closing with a pessimistic - but practical - summary:

As far as this episode goes, it’s not the total success that fans were hoping for. It’s a show that still needs to find its feet and that puts this show in more than a bit of jeopardy with cancel-happy Fox. But from what I’ve seen, I’m convinced that there is a good series following this pilot even if it isn’t here yet.

Whether or not it'll get there depends on ratings and Fox's patience.

Dollhouse premieres Friday, February 13th on Fox.

Review: Welcome To The Dollhouse [The TV Addict]

Can you have a quality Superman movie without the bald villainous Lex Luthor? Warner Brothers certainly thinks so, and they're rumored to be hunting down nemesis replacement.

Latino Review is reporting that Warner Brothers executives are searching for a Lex Luthor-replacement to give the old franchise some new spice. They've been checking out scripts that feature a different supervillain from Superman's Rogues Gallery.

But don't get your Superman jammies in a twist — the studio still may keep Luthor in a smaller, more minor role in the new film, which I think would be pretty difficult if they continued to use Kevin Spacey.

So who do think it will be? My supes sense says most likely Braniac or Doomsday. It would be pretty spectacular to see more General Zod, but it has been done. Dark horse candidates include the Toyman and Mongul. Best of luck, WB — the world is in desperate need of a quality Superman film, so let's hope the villain switcheroo works.

[Latino Review]

Global warming is toying with our environment and spreading alien egg-sacks from person to person, until we're all dead, and it's all Val Kilmer's fault. New trailer for The Thaw: "Recycle or die."

Val Kilmer plays Dr. David Kruipen, a world-renowned expert in climate change. Dr. Kruipen and his students discover the thawing carcass of a woolly mammoth, but alas, their joy suddenly turns to fear. The thawing carcass releases a terrible parasite upon the research group, and begins picking off the team one by one.

Eventually, the students realize what they need to do: quarantine themselves, which means killing anyone who gets too close and protecting each other from their fellow research buddies. This is a classic isolationist horror directed by Mark A. Lewis and even though it pulls a bit from The Thing, I like the idea of a bunch of smarty pants kids killing each other off to protect the world.

There is still no release date for The Thaw.

Imprisoned by space pirates, Anakin and Obi-Wan have to work with Count Dooku to make their escape, in this Friday's Clone Wars. Does it go smoothly? Watch the clip and judge for yourself.

Here's the official synopsis for Friday's episode. And yes, it does feature he-who-must-not-be-named:

Anakin and Obi-Wan are negotiating Count Dooku’s ransom when they are also taken prisoner and placed in holding with the Separatist leader. Their only choice: Work together to escape.

A clone contingent is dispatched to deliver a ransom in exchange for Dooku – unaware that the Jedi are with him. But misfortune befalls their mission, and circumstance finds them with the unlikeliest of leaders: Jar Jar Binks.

I just hope somebody says "I smell Dooku" at some point. And here's a new pic:

[Warner Bros.]

Can you teach zombies to eat other delights, besides delicious brains? A difficult task perhaps, but one George Romero sinks his teeth into, in a promo video for his film ...Of The Dead.

Romero's next movie takes place on a little island being overrun by the undead. But instead of hacking up each former family member into little zombie bits, the residents are trying to find a cure. Unfortunately we all know what happens when you have one zombie: they reproduce like bunnies. There's a fight over who shall inherit the island — people looking for a zombie-free oasis, or those looking for a cure. But most folks in the little town are content to chain up their loved ones inside their houses and pretend everything is all right. So of course, havoc and mayhem ensue.

There still isn't a release date for this film, as it is in production, and who knows if the ...Of The Dead title will stay. But still, it's good to see Romero back in the undead business, even thought the quality of this clip is questionable. But I keep my mind open for a redeeming and graphic thriller, after that whole Diary nonsense.

[Voltage Pictures]

Science fiction monkeys. Sure, this week may bring all manner of collections of more recent comics, but let's face it: Nothing measures up to science fiction monkeys. Of course, these are new comics we crave.

The best part about the appeal of SF monkeys is that they pop up in two different books this week. But before we get to those, who don't I tell you about the other books you might want to pick up in order to come down safely afterwards? DC Comics is starting their Faces of Evil branding with Faces of Evil: Grundy, which follows Solomon, the Florida swampland's own undead supervillain, as he prepares for a new series starting later this year. Not to be undone, Marvel launch Spider-Man: Fear Itself, in which ol' webhead comes face to face with Man-Thing, Marvel's version of Swamp Thing who... lives in the Florida swampland. What are the odds?

Less likely to find strange parallels, DC's DC Universe Illustrated By Neal Adams is the first of three hardcovers collecting all of the popular artist's DC work throughout the years that doesn't feature Batman, Green Lantern or Deadman (because all of that stuff has been hardcovered already). On the more recent front, Marvel's Secret Invasion finds itself in paperback form even as its spin-off, Secret Invasion: War Of Kings gets started in a one-off special issue. When it comes to hardcovers, Marvel is doing their best to own that market this week, with Fantastic Four: World's Greatest (the first storyline from Kick-Ass and Wanted's Mark Millar), Spider-Man: Blue (from Heroes' Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale), Ultimate Origins and Universal War One all getting released in the format. They're also putting out a hardcover collection of the first issues from the third series of Runaways, but without creator Brian K. Vaughan writing... Well, it's not as fun anymore, to be honest.

Novelties of the week are the first collection of Rasl, the new SF series from Jeff Smith, creator of the awesome indie comic Bone, as well as the American release of the 2009 Doctor Who Storybook, which I recommended as a Christmas gift last month when it was available on import. But as great as both of those are, neither of them feature science fiction monkeys... unlike these two books:

Marvel's Agents of Atlas resurrects the so-called 1950s Avengers in a story that offers a pretty much perfect mix of thrills, spills and humor... and a super-intelligent gorilla who also happens to be a member of Marvel's favorite spy organization. If you can resist that, then you may have no heart... in which case, you'll also get absolutely nothing out of Showcase Presents Strange Adventures, a 500+ page phonebook collection of stories from 1950s SF anthology series Strange Adventures... which is just a sad, sad thing. Take a chance to become a better person, why don't you? Make 2009 the year you let science fiction monkeys into your heart.

Even the monkeyphobic will find this week's shipping list to be full of joy and happiness this week, before using the Comic Shop Locator to find out just where to buy said happiness. Just remember: For most of the people in the world, happiness is monkey-shaped.

Lumber companies are calling for offshore clear-cutting, logging forests that have been underwater for decades. And environmentalists have discovered the only loggers they could love.

Many forests packed with trees are now submerged in lakes, mostly due to humans rerouting water for dams and setting up reservoirs. Though they've been underwater for decades in some cases, their trees still make for good lumber. And since the trees are already dead, it's an environmentally-friendly way to get a lot of wood without cutting into living forests on dry land.

Triton Logging is a company that specializes in lumber processing, and they've got a giant underwater saw robot that can clearcut submerged trees - by remote control, from a desktop computer. Wired did an interesting article about Triton a couple of years ago, and now they're in the news again at Environmental Graffiti, where Linda McCormick wonders why Triton's Sawfish robot hasn't caught on, despite there being possibly 300 million submerged trees. (Some might even be thousands of years old.)

Tree chopping image by Kevin Hand, via Wired.

Push is full of sexy teens with confusing mental powers. Learn how Camilla Belle, who plays rogue pusher Kira Hudson, could make you think you grew up on Fraggle Rock with one gesture. Spoilers ahead.

This is Kira, the girl that everyone is after. She's the only mutant person to escape the secret halls of brain experiments at an unnamed agency. Plus, she's carrying a deep, dark secret that evil Pusher Djimon Hounsou would move heaven and hell to keep from coming out.

Nick, played by Chris Evans, is a Mover who used to work with the CIA, now he mostly hangs out with Dakota Fanning's Watcher, named Cassie Holmes.

Think of a Sniffer as a psychic blood hound. Push has two classifications of mind power people: those working for the creepy private agency and hunting down poor Kira Hudson, and those trying to survive with only their wits and mind-powers to save them. This movie has Sunday TBS movie written all over it.

To figure out the secrets behind all the Push powers, including the difference between a Wiper and a Watcher, check out Superhero Hype. Push will be in theaters on February 6th.

If you're planning to pick up the Battlestar Galactica Season 4.0 DVD when it hits stores today, you might want to get it at your nearest Best Buy... Or maybe wait until next year altogether. The LJ Battlestar Blog has noticed that Best Buy will be offering an exclusive "Limited Edition Gift Set" of the DVD, complete with new packaging, dog tags, and book for $39.99.

Like the regular DVD set, this will also include the following extras (courtesy of The Spin Sheet:

...([N]early) all of Ron Moore's podcast commentaries (originally available for download from the show's Sci-Fi website), along with newly recorded commentaries for episodes that never received podcast treatment (specifically, Guess What's Coming to Dinner and Sine Qua Non). There's one exception: Fans will recall that Moore's original podcast for the episode Faith was "technically challenged" to the point of being unlistenable, so that was cast aside and a completely new track was recorded with Moore and producers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. The result is that all 10 episodes now have commentary. (The only thing that's missing are the four Razor story meeting recordings - maybe they'll make the Blu-ray.) There are deleted scenes for every episode (4x3 letterbox), including some really great character moments - a little over an hour's worth in all. I won't spoil them, as they're fun to discover on your own. Next up are ten of David Eick's Video Blogs (3-4 mins each, 4x3 letterbox), totaling about 40 minutes of material. Some are better than others, but all of them offer an interesting look at behind-the- scenes life on the set. Then you get four new featurettes, two of which in particular are excellent. The first is The Journey (16x9) which runs 21 minutes and features each of the various cast members talking about the evolution of their characters over the course of the series. The other fun piece is The Music of Battlestar Galactica... or rather, Inside the Secrets of the Behind the Making of the Music of Battlestar Galactica Revealed. This runs another 23 minutes (also 16x9), and offers an obviously lighthearted look at composer Bear McCreary's score work for the series. It's pretty funny stuff. Again, I don't want to spoil it for you. The other two featurettes are Cylons: The Twelve (16 mins, 16x9), which looks at each of the Cylon models known so far, and Season 4.5: The Untold Story - Untold (2 mins, 16x9) which is cute, but truly leaves nothing whatsoever told. (It does, however, show a few interesting glimpses of the filming of the upcoming episodes.) Finally, the 2-minute preview for the Caprica pilot film is here, and Disc Two also includes (as the last of the trailers that open the disc prior to the main menu) the preview for the Season 4.5.

But if you're wanting more than just that, you may want to wait until the entire series is over, because Galactica Sitrep is reporting that Universal is planning a BluRay release for the entire series, once it's finished its run on SciFi that will include several brand-new commentaries in addition to other extras.

It just may be rather hard to stay away from Best Buy in the meantime.

The LJ Battlestar Blog has noticed that Best Buy will be offering an exclusive "Limited Edition Gift Set" of the DVD, complete with new packaging, dog tags, and book for $39.99.

Like the regular DVD set, this will also include the following extras (courtesy of The Spin Sheet:

...([N]early) all of Ron Moore's podcast commentaries (originally available for download from the show's Sci-Fi website), along with newly recorded commentaries for episodes that never received podcast treatment (specifically, Guess What's Coming to Dinner and Sine Qua Non). There's one exception: Fans will recall that Moore's original podcast for the episode Faith was "technically challenged" to the point of being unlistenable, so that was cast aside and a completely new track was recorded with Moore and producers Bradley Thompson and David Weddle. The result is that all 10 episodes now have commentary. (The only thing that's missing are the four Razor story meeting recordings - maybe they'll make the Blu-ray.) There are deleted scenes for every episode (4x3 letterbox), including some really great character moments - a little over an hour's worth in all. I won't spoil them, as they're fun to discover on your own. Next up are ten of David Eick's Video Blogs (3-4 mins each, 4x3 letterbox), totaling about 40 minutes of material. Some are better than others, but all of them offer an interesting look at behind-the- scenes life on the set. Then you get four new featurettes, two of which in particular are excellent. The first is The Journey (16x9) which runs 21 minutes and features each of the various cast members talking about the evolution of their characters over the course of the series. The other fun piece is The Music of Battlestar Galactica... or rather, Inside the Secrets of the Behind the Making of the Music of Battlestar Galactica Revealed. This runs another 23 minutes (also 16x9), and offers an obviously lighthearted look at composer Bear McCreary's score work for the series. It's pretty funny stuff. Again, I don't want to spoil it for you. The other two featurettes are Cylons: The Twelve (16 mins, 16x9), which looks at each of the Cylon models known so far, and Season 4.5: The Untold Story - Untold (2 mins, 16x9) which is cute, but truly leaves nothing whatsoever told. (It does, however, show a few interesting glimpses of the filming of the upcoming episodes.) Finally, the 2-minute preview for the Caprica pilot film is here, and Disc Two also includes (as the last of the trailers that open the disc prior to the main menu) the preview for the Season 4.5.

But if you're wanting more than just that, you may want to wait until the entire series is over, because Galactica Sitrep is reporting that Universal is planning a BluRay release for the entire series, once it's finished its run on SciFi that will include several brand-new commentaries in addition to other extras.

It just may be rather hard to stay away from Best Buy in the meantime.

A batch of new Descent 2 photos have been dug up, uncovering a face full of sexy crawler monsters and additional girl -on-cave-monster action. Get ready to lower yourself into the cave one more time.

Studio photographer Ollie Upton has just uploaded a whole mess of great new photos from the set of The Descent: Part 2, which picks up right after Neil Marshall's scary-as-hell monster movie. Here's the official synopsis:

Terror mounts and fear runs deeper in the chilling continuation to Neil Marshall's award-winning and critically acclaimed modern horror classic, The Descent. Distraught, confused and half-wild with fear, Sarah Carter emerges alone from the Appalachian cave system where she encountered unspeakable terrors. Unable to plausibly explain to the authorities what happened - or why she's covered in her friends' blood - Sarah is forced back to the subterranean depths to help locate her five missing companions. As the rescue party drives deeper into uncharted caverns, nightmarish visions of the recent past begin to haunt Sarah and she starts to realize the full horror and futility of the mission. Subjected to the suspicion and mistrust of the group and confronted once more by the inbred, feral and savagely ruthless Crawlers, Sarah must draw on all her inner reserves of strength and courage in a desperate final struggle for deliverance and redemption.

The UK is getting a May 15th release of the sequel, but there is still no word about the US release. I need to see this movie, especially when Sarah runs back into you-know-who with a search and rescue party — come on, you know that creep is still down there.

Okay, now that we've met the eleventh Doctor, it's time to start the rumor-mongering about who's going to be accompanying him on the Tardis when Doctor Who's official fifth season begins. Your first choices await.

Britain's Daily Telegraph is reporting that singer Lily Allen is in the lead for taking over the co-driver's seat when Matt Smith takes over as the Doctor in 2010, although new executive producer Piers Wenger isn't giving anything away:

Having got the casting of the Doctor out of the way, the companion role is where we will be looking next. Someone terribly exciting like Billie Piper, who was at the beginning of her acting career but who had a profile for other reasons, would be great. We are looking for someone whose light can burn brightly... We would never cast anyone on the basis of their celebrity, but if Lily wanted to audition we would be delighted. It would be a lot of fun.

According to the newspaper, Smallville alumnus Kelly Brook and former teen popster Rachel Stevens are also in the running for the role. Well, it worked for Billie Piper, after all...

Search for new Doctor Who's partner begins [Telegraph.co.uk]

Aura-cleansing spoilers include Chris Pine's Star Trek forecast. Revealing pics from Dragonball, Kyle XY, Monsters Versus Aliens, Watchmen, Smallville, and T4. New BSG clues. Lost hints, Heroes casting and Supernatural shockers. Breathe in the spoilers!

Watchmen, etc.:

Some higher res versions of the Entertainment Weekly images from Watchmen, Harry Potter and Terminator Salvation we featured a few days ago, courtesy of Warner Bros. [Warner Bros.]

Monsters Versus Aliens:

One cool new pic, showing Ginormica running from that massive robot. [Dreamworks]

Star Trek:

The new J.J. Abrams film won't please everyone, says Kirk actor Chris Pine:

There's a scene where my character is in a bar and he's definitely inebriated and under the influence of his own arrogance. It's him becoming the Kirk everyone knows. In my book that makes the journey a little more interesting. If he's a clear-cut leader from the beginning, you don't have anywhere to go.

He also said he brought Kirk's "humor, arrogance and decisiveness," but instilled them in a young man who doesn't know he's a leader yet. And the battling Kirk and Spock do eventually "find common ground through conflict."

Meanwhile, Zachary Quinto said his Spock has a characterstic stiffness and economy of movement, with the holding of the hands behind the back. And as he's mentioned many times before, this is a Spock who hasn't yet learned to control his emotions so well. [WSJ]

Dragonball Evolution:

When was the last time you saw some new stills from this movie and enjoyed a good belly laugh? (It restores your chi.) I especially like the Goku fight pic this time around. [BadTaste]

Battlestar Galactica:

Sci Fi updated its BSG clues site with a couple of sound files. It sounds like one of them has a radio conversation involving Colonial One, and fans have transcribed it:

Hoshi: They're communicating with Colonial One, Sir.
Adama: Let's hear it.
Gaeta: What do you want, Gaius?
Baltar: I want this to stop right now. This is madness, Felix. I know you’re a good man , you want to do the right thing,You know exactly what i'm talking about.
Tigh: You're the fifth.
Baltar: Our little secret, but i forgive you for that day. If you are hungering for redemption, this is not the way.
Gaeta: Goodbye, Gaius.....
Baltar: Felix, please listen.

But some other fans couldn't hear the "You're the fifth" thing in there. (The "hungering for redemption" definitely reminds me of the hybrid's spiel about the final Cylon in "Razor.") And then the second clip seems to be Roslin talking about how she wants to live a little bit, before she dies, and someone tells her that she only has one more day. And there's something about Cylons that I can't quite make out. [Sci Fi and Sci Fi]

Lost:

Flash-forwards and flashbacks will be less prominent this season, but in the opening episode of season five, we see past and present versions of Desmond, and they're both hot. Also, Ben helps Jack get off the booze and pills, and implies that if Jack does get back to the island, he'll never again return to the "real" world. And Sawyer gets to smack someone around in the season opener. [E! Online]

In the opening scene of the season opener, an alarm clock goes off at 8:15. (Whoah!) And that scene features someone we know and love, but we're seeing him in a new capacity. We won't learn in the first couple of episodes whether Jin is alive, but we will glimpse him. The three characters who die early on aren't major characters. Jack and Kate don't have any contact, although Kate considers calling him at one point. [Zap2It]

Kyle XY:

Okay, this is so not going to end well. In episode 3x03, "Electric Kiss," Jessi XX moves in with Kyle, and tensions rise in the Trager household. Not to mention, it looks like Amanda walks in on Kyle and Jessi about to share that aforementioned kiss. (I'm a total Kyle/Jessi shipper, although isn't she like Kyle's sister? Oh, not according to Wikipedia.) Meanwhile, Lori is totally going out with that DJ who helped her with the song contest. [SpoilerTV]

Heroes:

Nathan quickly becomes best buds with President Worf, thanks to his inside info on his mutant pals. And he's quickly corrupted by all this access to power. One of the first people he sells out is his ex, Tracy. Meanwhile, Hiro and Ando are getting a "lair." [E! Online]

And here's a casting call for episode 3x20:

[DOCTOR] 35 - 45. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. This competent ER doctor attends to a patient with life threatening injuries. 1 DAY GUEST STAR

[SALESWOMAN] LATE 30'S - EARLY 40'S. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. A career saleswoman at an upscale clothing store. CO-STAR

[AGENT 1,2, 3] 28 - 45. MALE. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. MUST BE IN GREAT PHYSICAL SHAPE. EXPERIENCE HANDLING WEAPONS A PLUS. These men are FBI agents taking part in a top-secret military operation. / CO-STAR / POSSIBLE RECUR

[TAXI DRIVER] 30 - 50. MALE. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. This East Coast Taxi Driver picks up a rather confusing fare. CO-STAR

[NEWS ANCHOR] 40 - 50. MALE OR FEMALE. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. News Anchor for a national TV news program. CO-STAR.

[HANDSOME OLDER GENT] 55 - 60. MALE CAUCASIAN. This handsome older gentleman flirts with an attractive woman in the rain. CO-STAR

[DOORMAN] 30's - 50's. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. This doorman works at an upscale residence in New York City. CO-STAR

[DRIVER] LATE 30's - EARLY 40's. PLEASE SUBMIT ALL ETHNICITIES. This driver works for a very rich and powerful woman. sptv050769 Stunt experience a plus. CO-STAR / THIS ROLE MIGHT NOT HAVE ACTUAL LINES BUT WILL BE FEATURED AND PAID SAG SCALE

[SpoilerTV]

Smallville:

Here's a scan of the Wizard Magazine article featuring the Legion of the Super Heroes, and a few new pics. [The ODI]

Supernatural:

We may be meeting a third Winchester brother later this season. Whether he'll be a full brother or not, he'll definitely be the son of John Winchester. Separately, Alistair will return later this season, in a nastier "meat sock" form. [E! Online]

According to the brainfarm at ABC, the Earth is "out of sync with time." That's how they explain the 2008 "leap second" in this segment.

I also appreciate the way the newscaster clarifies that the "leap second is like a leap year - only shorter." Seconds are shorter than days! Good to know.

I feel sorry for the poor guy from NIST who was brought in as an expert and obviously quoted way out of context in this segment. He's explaining something a lot more complicated than "weather makes the Earth slow down." But good old ABC made it sound as if he really thought the only reason we need a leap second is that we had a lot of snowmelt.

Good to know that as we charge into the year 2009, science coverage is getting even better at the major networks. Probably for the best that CNN fired Miles O'Brien along with its whole Earth and space reporting team - as this ABC segment makes clear, any old person can understand teh sience. We all know that seconds are shorter than days!

A new clip from the Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica just came out, at the same time as a draft of the pilot script appeared online. Seems there's a surplus of naughtiness in BSG's past. Spoilers!

In Caprica, we mostly follow the wealthy Graystone family at first. And then later, we meet the show's second family, the Adams clan. (Whose real last name is Adama.)

The Graystones are rich and pampered — Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) is clearly meant to be Caprica's answer to Bill Gates. He's sort of a path-of-least resistance guy whose big project, military fighting robots, is five years behind schedule. (For some reason, the prototype fighting robot can't even hit a moving target with a paintball once.) Daniel's big achievement is the holoband, a headband that lets you experience a virtual world.

Meanwhile, Daniel's wife Amanda Graystone (Paula Malcomson) is a big-time surgeon, who occasionally cheats on Daniel with a rival computer geek, Tomas Vergis.

Amanda constantly fights with her daughter, Zoe Graystone, who's a 16-year-old rebel. This leads to one of the script's many long speeches that will probably sound better coming from the mouths of A-list actors than they do on the page:

AMANDA: That’s enough! You are so lucky and you have everything in the worlds you could possibly want and all you can do is run down our family and complain about society — you have no idea what it means to build something, what it means to have discipline or to work hard for anything — it’s all been handed to you by the gods!

ZOE: Yeah, I guess I’ll just have to learn to how to marry into money.

Zing. And then Amanda slaps Zoe, who tells her she'll regret that for the rest of her life.

Zoe Graystone, meanwhile, is a student at the Academy of Athena. The academy's headmistress, Sister Clarice, is a secret monotheist. And Zoe plans to run away to the colony of Gemenon, with her emo boyfriend Ben and her flaky friend Lacy. They're all part of a secret monotheistic society, whose symbol is an infinity sign, and they meet in naughty holo-clubs where you can have group sex, human sacrifice, or fight club. Here's Lacy, later on, showing Daniel Graystone around the holo-club, in a clip uploaded to Sci Fi Wire today:

It's not all sex-and-sacrifice in the holographic club, though. Zoe has found a way to use a search engine to suck up every bit of data about herself and create a virtual "avatar," or copy of herself. (Honestly, the explanation of how she did this seems a bit iffy to me.) The virtual copy of Zoe hangs out at the holo-club and talks about monotheism a lot.

Anyway, it turns out that Ben, Zoe Graystone's emo boyfriend, doesn't actually want to run away to Gemenon with Zoe. Instead, he wants to score a point for monotheists by blowing himself up on a levitating subway train, with Zoe on board as well. Also killed in the explosion are attorney Joseph Adams' wife, Shannon, and his daughter, Tamara. This happens on Willie Adams' birthday — no wonder the grown-up Admiral Adama is damaged!

So we learn more about the Adama clan... actually there's a super brief prologue at the start of the pilot where we meet Joseph (Esai Morales) and his brother Sam as kids, when they're refugees from the colony of Tauron landing on Caprica. After Joseph and Sam Adama established themselves there, they changed their name to Adams to distance themselves from their Tauron roots. (And yes, the brother's name is Sam Adams.) Sam becomes an enforcer in the Tauron mafia, while the mafia puts Joseph through law school. In one scene, Joseph helps to bribe a judge to get a face-tattooed gangster out of prison on bail. But Joseph draws the line at helping to threaten the life of the Caprican defense minister... at least at first.

After Ben the emo boyfriend blows up the train and kills Zoe and the Adama girls, everyone is thrown into major grief. Joseph Adams and Daniel Graystone meet and become friends, and Joseph also starts spending time with his son Willie Adams for the first time. The three of them (Daniel, Joseph and Willie) go to see a Pyramid game, and it turns out Daniel owns the team.

Meanwhile, Amanda Graystone retreats into having sex with Tomas, Daniel's rival. But then Daniel and Amanda start getting back together again, and Daniel makes Amanda breakfast in bed.

Zoe's friend Lacy talks a lot to her headmistress, Sister Clarice, who wants to know about Zoe's work with computers. This spurs Lacy to go to the Graystone house and track down Zoe's online "avatar," which still retains all of Zoe's personality — and somehow, the avatar is covered with blood and rememebers the train bombing that killed the real Zoe:

LACY: What happened? Where’d all this blood come from?

ZOE-A I... I think it must be from the... bombing.

LACY The bombing...? But you weren’t even there — you couldn’t be there.

ZOE-A I know. (realizes) Zoe told me... she was working on a biofeedback protocol... she wanted me to feel what she felt — in real time. She never got it working exactly, but... something happened.

Lacy pulls back slightly.

LACY You mean you... “felt� her death?

At last, Lacy hugs the virtual Zoe (Zoe-A), and the virtual blood miraculously disappears.

Eventually, Daniel finds out about the "backup" Zoe, and he steals a copy. Then he approaches Joseph with a proposition: Daniel can bring both their dead daughters back to life as virtual avatars, but he needs a special piece of computer equipment that his rival Tomas has developed. Conveniently, the equipment is back on Tauron, so it's easy for Joseph's mafia buddies to steal it. But first, Joseph has to swallow his principles and threaten the life of the defense minister... who later gets his throat slit by Joseph's brother Sam, when he refuses to give in to blackmail.

When Joseph finally meets the "virtual" version of his daughter Tamara, she's freaked out by being locked into this unreal world, and panicked at the fact that she can't feel her own heartbeat any more. Joseph disconnects, and demands that Daniel delete the virtual Tamara from his machine. Daniel complies, but he feels pretty sure that Joseph will be back. This sets up a conflict between the two of them over whether virtual people have "souls," which presumably will play out throughout the series.

So... it's pretty high drama, and definitely has a lot of speeches about the nature of monotheism versus polytheism, and society versus the individual, and the ethics of playing god with cyber-entities, etc. (In one great scene, Duram, a government agent investigating the bombings, says to Sister Clarice, "It doesn’t concern you that there’s a proven link between worship of a single god and an absolutist view of the universe? A belief that right and wrong are determined solely by a single all-knowing, allpowerful being whose judgement cannot be questioned? A god in whose name the most horrendous crimes can be sanctioned without appeal?")

At times, it gets a bit over-the-top, but the cast is so rock-solid that it'll probably work pretty well. It's a pretty interesting look at Caprican society 51 years before the Cylon apocalypse — it's pretty close to our world, except there are levitating trains, Daniel has a robot servant, and all the teenagers are having sex in holographic clubs. I don't know if it'll manage to be as intense as BSG, but it might be great in a whole new way. We'll have to wait and see.

UFO paranoia site TopSecretConspiracy.Com went to WorldCon to uncover the truth about science fiction — it's a ploy, paving the way for alien invasion. But could some Monsters save us from these Aliens?

At first glance, Total Conspiracy is just a hilariously awesome conspiracy site, including pictures of flying dogs, alien coins (from the U.S. Treasury), and alien-influenced mathematicians. It's chock full of weird ranty videos by sitemaster Jeffrey Freedman, and essays on things like flu vaccines as an alien scheme to weaken us. (And I love the whole thing in the video, where he demands to know if the government had anything to do with the death of Robert Heinlein.)

But eagle-eyed reader James pointed me to the science fiction book covers in the latest video, posted above. Not only do they have great parody titles like Weirdo In A Weird Land, Probed: A Love Story, Scales Of Fear, The Boy Who Forgot The Time, Welcome To Our New Mechanical Overlords, My Big Fat GIant Revenge, and I Have No Brain And I Must Yell. But they also feature MVA characters like Bob (the blob), Dr. Cockroach PhD, Ginormica and a couple others.

Could this, too, be a conspiracy? Could Dreamworks be controlling the mind of an innocent UFO conspiracy nut, trying to get him to promote their movie? Only you can decide, by exposing your truth. [Top Secret Conspiracy, thanks James!]

Rings of debris from shattered asteroids and Earth-like planets orbit many white dwarf stars - their remains testimony to how common Earth-like bodies really are in space.

A group of scientists from California using the Spitzer Space Telescope have examined the debris rings around six different white dwarfs, one of which is depicted above in this artist's rendering. What they found was that a lot of these shattered rocks were low in carbon but high in other minerals common to rocky planets in our solar system. Planets in our system are also low in carbon.

The researchers announced their findings at this week's meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Long Beach, CA. According to Centauri Dreams:

When a star like our Sun reaches the end of its life and becomes a red giant, it consumes any inner planets and perturbs the orbits of the surviving planets and asteroids. A white dwarf is the end result of this stellar expansion and subsequent collapse. Objects wrenched out of their former orbits should, like the asteroids in question, occasionally drift close enough to the star to be pulled apart by its gravity. Such a star, showing the excess infrared signature of a circumstellar disk that is likely caused by the tidal disruption of asteroids, is called a ‘polluted’ white dwarf.

And that's what we're seeing here.

SOURCE: Astronomical Journal.
Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech.

NBC wants fans to recap the entire season of Heroes, in your own words. So if you understood what was going on in Haiti, please speak up now, and check out the video example.

This is actually a super cute idea and I'm already contemplating making waffles while explaining the waffles Sylar craziness. I just need to find that apron. Go to NBC now and submit your video, or I'll sic the cheerleader on you.

Sheesh, the new Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li doesn't want to use the movie's greatest asset, Kristen Kreuk. The new heads-in-bodies poster leaves much to be desired. Come on, where's the leg?

Ms. Kreuk, who is by all accounts a gorgeous young thing, has been repeatedly washed out and photo shopped to her detriment throughout most of the Street Fighter marketing. How do you make such a gorgeous girl look so plain?

Forget that she doesn't have the yup-yup power thighs we all have come to treasure, she's a looker. Yet this movie insists on making her look like hell. Calling this poster "nice" is the best I can do.

And now this poster, it's sad to say but I do not have high expectations for Balrog, Bison and Vega. The Jean-Claude Van Damme film from the 90s is much more exciting, despite the fact that people LOVE Chun-Li.

Also where is Blanka? I know this is Chun-Li's origins story, but let's appeal to the marketplace here: I want to see monsters and thighs.

Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li will be out February 27, 2009.

On New Year's Day, while you were complaining about the Gregorian calendar or nursing a wicked hangover, I was hurtling around a snow-covered racetrack, en route to destroying a perfectly good Saturn station wagon.

After all the months of preparation, we finally hit the track with the io9 Apocalypsemobile, running in the 4-cylinder class of the Hangover 150 at Ransomville Speedway, just north of Niagara Falls, NY. You can probably tell from the photos, but just to drive home the point - it was really really really really really freaking cold that day. When I woke up, the temperature was 4. Degrees. Fahrenheit.

But before I get into the fun stuff, there's a bit of bad news. The track officials assigned numbers to everyone. Therefore, I couldn't use io9 as my official number, and had to paint out the 'o' to make my number 19. I was disappointed, but it was either that or not race.

And race we did. Previous years, it has been cold and snowy, but a within a few laps the cars had churned the dirt track into a quagmire of half-frozen mud. This kept speeds slow and made getting stuck more of a concern than crashing. There were also lots more cars in the past, so many that sometimes they ringed the entire track four deep at the start of the race. This year, those factors were not in effect. The cold had frozen the track solid, and the four-inch coating of snow was packed flat by the fifth lap. Car counts were down as well, perhaps due to general economic malaise. There were fewer than 40 cars in the 4-cylinder division. The fast track and open space meant the cars could really build up speed - a lot more speed than I expected.

If there's one thing the Apocalypsemobile had plenty of, it was speed. With a dual-overhead cam engine, it had in the neighborhood of 180 horsepower, and by the time I'd stripped the interior, it weighed significantly less than a ton. Of course, as soon as I climbed in it was probably back over a ton, but still, it had some serious kick. Once a I got a feel for it, I could blast down the straights, kick it sideways in the turns and dive past slower competitors with ease. Cars were spinning all around me, fading in and out of view through billowing clouds of snow (which occasionally blew inside my helmet, which was unpleasant). I avoided them all, becoming increasingly confident and aggressive.

And that, naturally, is what lead to the Apocalypsemobile's downfall. The photos probably tell the story better than I can, but here's how it went down: I went into turn one very fast, making an inside pass on a white minivan. I figured to slide high once I was past him, letting the front wheel drive vehicle's natural push carry me through the corner. Except someone had spun out and stopped near the wall directly in my path. I slammed into his rear corner hard. Hard enough to give myself a headache, even though I was wearing a helmet. Hard enough to destroy my right front tire, bend the front frame rail, and shake something loose in the engine (the leading theory involves the ignition system). The car still ran, but the engine pulsed rather than running steadily. As it sputtered, I could only manage about 20 or so mph, which felt terrible after the estimated 40-50 I'd been doing. The Apocalypsemobile and I soldiered on for quite a few more laps until someone spun me out in the turn. I ended up stuck in the snow at the bottom of the track, up against another car.

That would have been fine were it not for the fact that my driver's side door was facing oncoming cars. Oncoming cars that were careening through the turn at high speed, barely in control. There were some moments of extreme terror as I pondered the effect of someone slamming into me. Then someone did, but luckily they hit a few feet behind my door. Resisting panic, I judged the amount of space available between my passenger window and the car I was pinned against. Enough space? I hoped so. I undid my shoulder belt, unlatched my lap belt, threw myself across the front seat (somehow remembering to grab my disposable camera in the process), then flung myself out onto the other car's hood. From there, I reached the safety of the infield.

Not 30 seconds after I got out (I was still taking my helmet off), a black Camaro slammed its rear corner directly into the spot I'd been sitting in. Close one.

Before we get to the photos, I have to thank some people for helping me make this whole Apocalypsemobile thing happen. This was easily the craziest, most fun thing I've ever done, and I could never have managed it on my own.

Thanks to:

My dad, who did enormous amounts of work on the car, contributed huge amounts of automotive knowledge, bought the battery, towed the car there with his truck, and acted as my squire in the pits, arming me for battle and making sure my trusty Saturn was mechanically sound.

Kurt, for letting me borrow his helmet. Without it, I have no doubt I would have cracked my skull in the crash.

Annalee, for being really supportive and enthusiastic, and sponsoring me.

My wife, for putting up with me keeping this thing in our garage for half a year, and not totally freaking out about the potential of me getting hurt.

My brother, for lots of enthusiasm and some excellent photographs.

Jim Mercurio, for letting me use his old drag racing seat belts.

James "Mac" McParland and www.titzenbeer.com for coming on board as an early sponsor.

io9er FredicvsMaximvs, who also sponsored the Apocalypsemobile.

Finally, here's the photo gallery. For reasons I cannot fathom, the photos appear in the gallery in random order, thus defeating my careful chronology. Still, they express the triumph and tragedy of the io9 Apocalypsemobile quite effectively. You can also check out the official race photos, as well as an excellent Youtube video that is well worth the watch. My favorite part starts around 1:10. The crowd's reaction is priceless.

Last year, Hollywood's writers went on strike for 14 weeks, and genre television took tremendous damage as a result. But movies didn't emerge unscathed, either — we just won't see the fallout until this year.

When the studios decided to wait out the striking writers, they put a lot of big genre TV shows in jeopardy. Some emerged almost unscathed — Lost was able to go back and finish its fourth season — but several others took major damage. For example, Heroes had to end its second season early, leaving plotlines unresolved (Catilin?) and a bad taste in people's mouths. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ended its first season early, and by the time it came back after a nine-month gap, it had lost a lot of viewers, maybe permanently.

But because of the longer lead time for movies, we're just about to start seeing the effects of the strike — fewer movies, and worse movies. Says USA Today:

Another question, even some executives admit, is the caliber of 2009's movies. "The real impact of the strike could be felt next year," says Erik Lomis, head of distribution for MGM. "Some things were put on hold, some things were rushed to beat the strike, perhaps to a lesser quality. You never want to see that happen, but it's a concern."

So how does this affect the movies you care about? Here's a rundown, based on what we know so far:

X-Men: Origins: Wolverine.
What happened? According to the L.A. Times, this X-Men spinoff was rushing to get a script ready before the strike started. Fox Movies "issued an urgent SOS to the major agencies looking for a quick rewrite person" to get the script into shape in the last few remaining days, so Wolvie could start shooting in time to make a May 2009 release date.
What's the damage? We know the script was bad enough that it needed a rewrite. We know the rewrite was done in a hurry by someone the studio found by begging the talent agencies to find someone quick. We don't know how it turned out, though — maybe they got the greatest script doctor in the universe to step in. Also, it's possible there were more rewrites after the strike ended. Note that the film extended its shooting, ending in May instead of April.

G.I. Joe
What happened? That same L.A. Times article mentioned that Collateral scribe Stuart Beattie was frantically working on polishing up the Joe script before the deadline. Said producer Laurence di Bonaventura, "Given what’s at stake and the [time] we have left, our writers on every project are working under inhuman amounts of pressure."
What's the damage? Well, they didn't have to bring in an outside screenwriter. Beattie is a good writer, but "inhuman amounts of pressure" doesn't sound like the best circumstances to come up with story beats for Storm Shadow and the Baroness.

Star Trek:
What happened? The script was done in time, but director J.J. Abrams and producer Damon Lindelof couldn't tinker with it during filming — at least for the parts of filming that took place during the strike, because they're both WGA members. Said screenwriter John August: "J.J. was describing a scene he was shooting the day before. Midway through it, he got a great idea for a new line. Which he couldn’t write. Couldn’t shoot. Couldn’t be in his movie."
What's the damage? Honestly, pretty minor. It sounds as though we lost a few funny lines of dialogue. The film was still filming after the strike ended, so if Abrams felt strongly that a scene didn't work as written, he could have gone back and reshot later.

Terminator Salvation
What happened? The script was done before the strike hit, penned by Terminator 3 scribes Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato. But both producer James Middleton and director McG said in interviews that the script needed a rewrite, and they were hoping the strike would be done in time to punch it up before the movie started filming. The strike ended in February 2008, and they started filming in May. During that time, Jonathan (The Dark Knight) Nolan did a new revision of the script.
What's the damage? If we'd been stuck with a script by the writers of T3, I'd be horrified. But it sounds as though Nolan had plenty of time to fix it.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
What happened? Michael Bay wrote the script. Actually, from what I've gleaned from interviews with writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, they gave Bay an outline before the strike happened, and he tinkered with it during the strike, adding his own ideas. And then Orci and Kurtzman came back after the strike. Says Orci: "We gave them a treatment before the strike which they prepared off of, then when we came back, we started writing immediately, and back to your question about how we were able to do it. On "Transformers," we demanded to be teamed up with the amazing Ehren Kruger, who co-wrote the movie with us."
What's the damage? Wel