Cool Sci-Fi Forums http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/ Cool Sci-Fi Forums is a community for all Sci-Fi and Fantasy fans. We have a little bit of everything including discussion forums, UseNet feeds, exclusive interviews, media gallery, arcade games, and other items for the whole family. en-us Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:26:14 GMT vBulletin 1440 http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/images/cinvin_steelrubber/misc/rss.jpg Cool Sci-Fi Forums http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/ <![CDATA["Unholy Trinity": Another Free Read From The Aston West Series]]> http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270346&goto=newpost Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:12:08 GMT Just a quick note to let everyone know that my latest story "Unholy Trinity" is now online (and free to read) in the March 2010 issue of Digital Dragon. Enjoy!

And if you like what you see, be sure to stop by my site and catch all of the other stories in the Aston West series. ]]> astonwest http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270346 NASA Huygens on Titan http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270338&goto=newpost Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:45:03 GMT *NASA Picture Of The Day Huygens on Titan* Image: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/432536main_titan_huygens_big_516-387.jpg ... NASA Picture Of The Day
Huygens on Titan



In 2005 the robotic Huygens probe landed on Titan, Saturn's enigmatic moon, and sent back the first ever images from beneath Titan's thick cloud layers. This artist's impression is based on those images. In the foreground, sits the car-sized lander that sent back images for more than 90 minutes before running out of battery power. The parachute that slowed Huygen's re-entry is seen in the background, still attached to the lander. Smooth stones, possibly containing water-ice, are strewn about the landscape. Analyses of Huygen's images and data show that Titan's surface today has intriguing similarities to the surface of the early Earth. Image Credit: ESA (More at NASA Picture Of The Day) ]]> Space Exploration Robby http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270338 NASA Winds of Change http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270086&goto=newpost Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:42:16 GMT *NASA Picture Of The Day Winds of Change* Image: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/432198main_image_1607_516-387.jpg ... NASA Picture Of The Day
Winds of Change



This is a composite image of NGC 1068, one of the nearest and brightest galaxies containing a rapidly growing supermassive black hole. The X-ray images and spectra obtained using Chandra's High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer show that a strong wind is being driven away from the center of NGC 1068 at a rate of about a million miles per hour. This wind is likely generated as surrounding gas is accelerated and heated as it swirls toward the black hole. A portion of the gas is pulled into the black hole, but some of it is blown away. High energy X-rays produced by the gas near the black hole heat the ouflowing gas, causing it to glow at lower X-ray energies. X-ray data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are shown in red, optical data from the Hubble Space Telescope in green and radio data from the Very Large Array in blue. The spiral structure of NGC 1068 is shown by the X-ray and optical data, and a jet powered by the central supermassive black hole is shown by the radio data. This Chandra study is much deeper than previous X-ray observations. Using this data, researchers believe that each year several times the mass of our sun is being deposited out to large distances, about 3,000 light years from the black hole. The wind likely carries enough energy to heat the surrounding gas and suppress extra star formation. These results help explain how a supermassive black hole can alter the evolution of its host galaxy. It has long been suspected that material blown away from a black hole can affect its environment, but a key question has been whether such "black hole blowback" typically delivers enough power to have a significant impact. NGC 1068 is located about 50 million light years from Earth and contains a supermassive black hole about twice as massive as the one in the middle of the Milky Way Galaxy. Image Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/ MIT/C.Canizares, D.Evans et al), Optical (NASA/STScI), Radio (NSF/ NRAO/VLA) (More at NASA Picture Of The Day) ]]> Space Exploration Robby http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270086 Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270085&goto=newpost Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:42:16 GMT *Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper* http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/customprofilepics/profilepic1711_1.gifThis almost certainly will not be... Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper

This almost certainly will not be found in the SFF section of the bookshop, but Library of the Dead is one of that curious genre of modern thrillers which have strong fantasy elements. I should warn you in advance that this review contains spoilers, as it’s otherwise difficult to discuss.

Several different story threads are followed. Most of the tale takes place in present-day USA but there are also several chapters set much earlier in England; in 1947 and in the 13th and 8th centuries. As you might expect, all these threads are woven together in the end.

The present-day thread starts out as a conventional detective story. FBI agent Will Piper, formerly an expert on serial killers but now approaching a drink-sodden retirement, is called upon to make one last effort to catch the “Doomsday Killer”; someone is sending postcards to people showing just a coffin and the date of their deaths, which duly come to pass. The problem is that nothing except the postcards seems to connect the victims, some of whose deaths appear to be natural.

A mystery element is introduced early on when an unnamed cargo, dug up by archaeologists in Britain in 1947 but considered too problematic to retain, is transferred to the USA. Piper’s present-day efforts to identify the killer are then alternated with scenes from the 8th Century in which the nature of the secret is soon revealed; a strange child is born who cannot speak but has only one obsessive activity - writing down people's names and their locations, plus their dates of birth and death. Not in the past, but in the future.

One of the present-day characters, a former classmate of Piper, works at a secret government establishment which is gradually revealed as being devoted to analysing the mass of data discovered by the archaeologists. The pace accelerates as Piper tries to solve the problem while being pursued by ruthless government agents determined to prevent the secret from being revealed.

This isn’t a bad read, its 400 pages slipping by easily enough. There is certain lack of tension caused by the fact that the historical scenes soon make it pretty obvious to the reader what the “Doomsday killings” are all about, while Piper remains in ignorance until close to the end. However, there is an unexpected and dramatic twist in the final chapter, set in the 13th century, which casts everything in an entirely new light.

This odd kind of mixture of realistic present-day thriller mixed with supernatural elements (frequently involving archaeology and ancient secrets) appears to be increasingly popular, although logically one might expect that the separate elements would appeal to entirely different audiences. Ironically, it means that there is a large number of readers who wouldn’t dream of reading a mainstream fantasy novel but who are, nonetheless, reading fantasy!


(This entry is cross-posted from my science-fiction & fantasy blog.) ]]> Anthony G Williams http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=270085 JJF Webisodes? http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269935&goto=newpost Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:30:42 GMT Hello!! Pretty new to this whole wide world of fantasy and scifi so i hope i dont come off as too naive! :) Does anyone regularly watch... Hello!!

Pretty new to this whole wide world of fantasy and scifi so i hope i dont come off as too naive! :)

Does anyone regularly watch webisodes of stuff on stuff like staytunedtv.net? I just saw this one...on youtube too...and it these like...newscasts from the future...its called the "JJF" and theres stuff on there about quakes and people who are time travelers through history...all kinds of crazy stuff...
anyone else see it??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh8OLmNK84c ]]> CinderellaUndercover http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269935 NASA Iceberg Collision in Antarctica http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269930&goto=newpost Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:43:49 GMT *NASA Picture Of The Day Iceberg Collision in Antarctica* Image: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/432249main_mertz_amo_2010051_lrg_516-387.jpg ... NASA Picture Of The Day
Iceberg Collision in Antarctica



An oblong iceberg roughly as big as Rhode Island called B-09B (center right in this image) collided with the edge of the Mertz Glacier in eastern Antarctica this month breaking away a new iceberg (top left) that is nearly as large at B-09B. This image from Feb. 20, 2010, is one of a series of images from NASA's Aqua satellite that showed the progression and aftermath of the collision. The floating ice tongue of the glacier is created as ice flows down from Antarctica and onto the water. Glacier tongues grow longer year by year until they eventually break off, calving a new iceberg. Image Credit: NASA (More at NASA Picture Of The Day) ]]> Space Exploration Robby http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269930 Help! What do you do when you need a review from an intelligent reader? http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269916&goto=newpost Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:43:41 GMT Hi, I am Anne Spackman, and I need help with my book's reviews. I am wondering who out there would like to read a book called The Last Immortal by Anne Spackman and write it an intelligent review. The book was published on amazon.com as a kindle book, and I have no way of promoting it to anyone and to request reviews for it. I was hoping someone here might know what I should do to get more readers and to get a clever review written for the book. The book is about aliens in the Rigell system so I guess it is about the Illuminati aliens.

Sincerely,
Anne Spackman ]]> pegasuskitty http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269916 Sci-Fi resources and appendixs http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269813&goto=newpost Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:09:40 GMT This may be a subjective opinion among the masses, but I was wondering if anyone knows of a good place to go online, that has the largest... This may be a subjective opinion among the masses, but I was wondering if anyone knows of a good place to go online, that has the largest database/appendix of Race, Species, Character profiles, and story histories for Star Wars, Star Trek (all stories), Stargate (all stories), BattleStar Galactica, and Caprica. Ive already tried a search through the forums, and if I overlooked something or didnt do a good job looking, please accept my apologies. I have looked up the desired subjects on google and have found various sources of Wikipedia, but sometimes custom Fan-run sites are better maintained then wiki. ]]> Varxtis http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269813 NASA Seeing Eye-to-Eye on How to Fly http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269777&goto=newpost Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:46:19 GMT *NASA Picture Of The Day Seeing Eye-to-Eye on How to Fly* Image: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/429932main_image_1606_516-387.jpg ... NASA Picture Of The Day
Seeing Eye-to-Eye on How to Fly



The National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, or NACA, which celebrates its 95th anniversary on March 3, provided the nation's earliest research and helped develop important technologies, as well as knowledge of flight safety and efficiency. NASA adopted many of these research techniques and many of the places in which to do it, like wind tunnels and entire research centers, from the NACA. Engine cowlings to cover propellers and a series of proven air foil shapes for aircraft wings--both of which reduced drag and improved speed and efficiency--were chief NACA contributions subsequently adopted by every aircraft of the day and improved upon over the decades. This image shows NACA chief test pilot Melvin Cough outside a hangar at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory. The test vehicle on the right is a Curtiss BF2C-1 Goshawk, which was used by the U.S. Navy in the early 1930s and featured retractable landing gear. Image Credit: NACA (More at NASA Picture Of The Day) ]]> Space Exploration Robby http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269777 NASA The Crab Nebula http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269636&goto=newpost Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:51:25 GMT *NASA Picture Of The Day The Crab Nebula* Image: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/430448main_image_1604_516-387.jpg ... NASA Picture Of The Day
The Crab Nebula



The Crab Nebula, the result of a supernova noted by Earth-bound chroniclers in 1054 A.D., is filled with mysterious filaments that are are not only tremendously complex, but appear to have less mass than expelled in the original supernova and a higher speed than expected from a free explosion. The Crab Nebula spans about 10 light-years. In the nebula's very center lies a pulsar: a neutron star as massive as the Sun but with only the size of a small town. The Crab Pulsar rotates about 30 times each second. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, J. Hester, A. Loll (ASU) (More at NASA Picture Of The Day) ]]> Space Exploration Robby http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269636 NASA Haze over Santiago, Chile After Quake http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269464&goto=newpost Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:42:07 GMT *NASA Picture Of The Day Haze over Santiago, Chile After Quake* Image: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/430550main_1605_516-387.jpg ... NASA Picture Of The Day
Haze over Santiago, Chile After Quake



Haze lingered over the metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile, following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake on February 27, 2010. In an image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite at 14:25 UTC, black smoke hung over the northern part of the city, while light-colored haze (perhaps pollution and/or dust) covered the southern part of the city and filled a canyon that cuts eastward into the mountains. &rsaquo; Earth Observatory: View Before And After Comparison&rarr; Image Credit: NASA (More at NASA Picture Of The Day) ]]> Space Exploration Robby http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269464 Free Green Hornet Card at Baltimore Show http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269366&goto=newpost Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:27:07 GMT *Free Green Hornet Card at Baltimore Show* Limited edition card and Brian Kong added to March 21 non-sports card convention Image:...
Free Green Hornet Card at Baltimore Show
Limited edition card and Brian Kong added to March 21 non-sports card convention

Originally appeared on Scoop Industry News
February 25, 2010

A limited edition Green Hornet promo card, designed exclusively for the Baltimore Non-Sports Card Convention and offered in conjunction with Martin Grams' and Terry Salomonsons' upcoming Green Hornet book, will be issued with each paid admission to the March 21, 2010 show while supplies last. Only 1,000 cards will be printed.

The convention will feature numerous tables of exhibitors from the non-sports hobby, including artists, authors, manufacturers, publishers, and dealers, according to the show's promoter, USA Theatres.

Newly added guests appearing at the convention include Brian Kong (a full-time sketch card artist, who has created over 10,000 original sketch cards from some of the prolific properties including MLB, X-Men, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Heroes, NBA, Dexter, Marvel Masterpieces, Iron Man, Lord of the Rings, Spiderman 3, Star Trek, Marilyn Monroe, Wizard of Oz, The Complete Avengers, DC: Legacy, and Frankenstein) and Manny Mederos (cartoonist/illustrator and sketch card artist, whose recent projects include sketch card sets such as Voltron, Defender of the Universe, Zombies vs. Cheerleaders, and the Archie Comics/March of Dimes sketch card series).

Other highlights of the convention will include a unique exhibition by Geppi's Entertainment Museum and trading card manufacturer Rittenhouse Archives.

The convention is set to debut on March 21 from 10 AM to 3 PM at the Towson Place Hotel & Suites (Formerly the Holiday Inn Baltimore-Towson), 1100 Cromwell Bridge Road, Towson, Maryland. Admission into the event is $5 for adults and free for children under 12.

For a complete line-up of guests appearing at the convention, visit their website, www.usatheatres.com/conventions.html

Posted by NonSportsCard ]]> Off Topic NonSportsCard http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269366 Screen time: Batman Begins and The Last Dragon http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269365&goto=newpost Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:45:52 GMT Screen time: Batman Begins and The Last Dragon

I've never been a fan of comic book superheroes but I'd heard good things of the Batman Begins film so I thought it was worth a spin. What I'd heard was right; the film attempts to establish a logical reason for the creation of the Batman identity and the source of his advanced technology (including the Batmobile). These efforts to make a basically daft idea credible move it (somwhat) towards the SF rather than the pure fantasy camp. Fortunately there is no mention of Robin and his somewhat questionable relationship with the hero.

Much time is spent on establishing Bruce Wayne's personality as he develops from a young boy to a troubled adult, leading to his training with a ninja-style organisation and his decision to use the output of the advanced projects department of the family firm to help him to wage war on the organised crime which is running Gotham City. Cue lots of dramatic flying around, fighting, and car chases. Still, it's a lot better than most such movies and I realised why when I saw in the credits that it was directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige). 'Nuff said.
-----------------------------
The Last Dragon I want to talk about isn't the 1985 Hollywood martial arts movie but the 2004 feature-length production re-shown on UK TV at the beginning of this year (known in the USA as Dragon's World: A Fantasy Made Real or Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real). It purports to be a drama documentary and is set in the near future (the obvious sign of this being portable equipment able to replicate the most advanced scanning and analytical techniques available today, and to do so almost instantly). The main character is a scientist who has an obsession with dragons which has ruined his reputation: he believes that there must be a core of truth behind the world-wide stories of giant, fire-breathing flying creatures. So when the frozen corpse of a large unknown animal is discovered in an ice cave high in the Romanian mountains he goes to investigate.

The rest of the programme is split between the a dramatised version of the scientist's detailed investigation of the corpse and excerpts from a mock-documentary describing the evolution of dragons. I liked the problem-solving approach to the investigation, in which much trouble is taken to find logical reasons for the dragon's unique features. For instance, special gut bacteria produce a hydrogen-methane mix which is stored in large internal bladders. These make the dragon light enough to fly despite its relatively small wings, and also provide the fuel for the flame-throwing; this is ignited by using platinum (obtained by grinding up ore) as a catalyst, as the expelled gases reach the oxygen in the air. Obviously, the dragons are limited in the amount of fire-breathing they can do at any one time because it affects their ability to fly. This may all be nonsense, but it sounds good!

The documentary element is modelled on a typical wildlife programme with a sober, authoritative narrative about the life of dragons and is illustrated with lots of good CGI. It is reminscient of the popular TV programmes which have been produced on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. We learn that dragons co-existed with dinosaurs and although the land-based ones died out when they did, a marine version survived and later re-emerged onto the land, evolving into various forms in different parts of the world. We see the non-flying Chinese forest dragon as well as the European mountain flying dragon. Towards the end, attention focuses on the fate of the dragon which has been discovered in Romania, which died in a battle with soldiers at the end of the 15th century - perhaps the last one to live. But there is a hint at the end of the programme that there are discoveries still to be made…

The programme is played with an entirely straight face throughout. It is very well done and hugely enjoyable if you are at all intrigued by the dragon myths. One to look out for.


(This entry is cross-posted from my science-fiction & fantasy blog.) ]]> Anthony G Williams http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269365 NASA Blasting Off Into History http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269261&goto=newpost Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:42:42 GMT *NASA Picture Of The Day Blasting Off Into History* Image: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/430255main_image_1603_516-387.jpg ... NASA Picture Of The Day
Blasting Off Into History



NASA's Space Shuttle Program conducted the final test firing of a reusable solid rocket motor Feb. 25 in Promontory, Utah. The flight support motor, or FSM-17, burned for approximately 123 seconds--the same time each reusable solid rocket motor burns during an actual space shuttle launch. Preliminary indications show all test objectives were met. After final test data are analyzed, results for each objective will be published in a NASA report. The test--the 52nd conducted for NASA by ATK Launch Systems, a unit of Alliant Techsystems Inc.--marks the closure of a test program that has spanned more than three decades. The first test was in July 1977. The ATK-built motors have successfully launched the space shuttle into orbit 129 times. Image Credit: NASA (More at NASA Picture Of The Day) ]]> Space Exploration Robby http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269261 NASA The Possibility of a Brand New World http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269117&goto=newpost Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:42:48 GMT *NASA Picture Of The Day The Possibility of a Brand New World* Image: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/429888main_image_1602_516-387.jpg ... NASA Picture Of The Day
The Possibility of a Brand New World



Several of the dwarf galaxies of in the Hickson Compact Group 31 are slowly merging. Will the result of these galactic collisions be one big elliptical galaxy? Most assuredly. The pictured galaxies of Hickson Compact Group 31 will pass through and destroy each other, millions of stars will form and explode, and thousands of nebula will form and dissipate before the dust settles and the final galaxy emerges about one billion years from now. The above image is a composite of images taken in infrared light by the Spitzer Space Telescope, ultraviolet light by the GALEX space telescope, and visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope. Hickson Compact Group 31 spans about 150,000 light years and lies about 150 million light years away toward the constellation of Eridanus. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, J. English (U. Manitoba), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgement: S. Gallagher (U. Western Ontario) (More at NASA Picture Of The Day) ]]> Space Exploration Robby http://www.coolscifi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269117