Scifi Tech Talk

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Taking a different approach to the podcast this week. Julie and Jeff are joined by Jeff Gamet to discuss the technology of "local" transportation as it is depicted in several scifi universes.

Trek Nation is a documentary film directed by Scott Colthorp examining the positive impact that Star Trek and creator Gene Roddenberry may have had on people's lives as seen through the eyes of his son, Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. ("Rod"). It includes interviews with cast members and crew from all five Star Trek shows, as well as various fans and celebrities who were markedly influenced by the show while growing up. - WikipediaThe Tech: every Trek tech ever

Buck Rogers “is the titular 20th century astronaut who goes on a space mission only to awaken 500 years later on a very different Earth, where he's chosen to aid a special defense organization because of his superior piloting skills.” -- NetflixThe Tech: spaceships, cryrogenics (again), mutants, lasers, AI (Dr Theopholus), courts run by AI, sports, Olympics

“Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord—a time travelling, humanoid alien with two hearts known as the Doctor. He explores the universe in his TARDIS—a sentient,telepathic time machine that flies through time and space. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, a common sight in 1963, when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, the Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilisations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs.” -- WikipediaThe Tech: sonic screwdriver, Tardis, regeneration

20 minutes or 20 years into the future--take your pick for this classic, prophetic and very cool series from 1987: Max Headroom! Get a pretty dead-on look at the world of our present and probably near future, but from 20 years ago. The Tech: tasers, CCTV, instant ratings data, videoconferencing, 3D mapping

“Nineteen Eighty-Four is a novel by George Orwell published in 1949. It is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party.[1] Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control, accomplished with a political system euphemistically named English Socialism (Ingsoc), which is administered by a privileged Inner Party elite.[2] Yet they too are subordinated to the totalitarian cult of personality of Big Brother, the deified Party leader who rules with a philosophy that decries individuality and reason as thoughtcrimes; thus the people of Oceania are subordinated to a supposed collective greater good.[1] The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a member of the Outer Party who works for the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), which is responsible for propaganda and historical revisionism. His job is to re-write past newspaper articles so that the historical record is congruent with the cur

In this German silent movie from 1927, Metropolis, the gleaming city of tomorrow, has a dark underbelly where workers continually operate the machinery that keeps the city running. The privileged son of the city leader discovers its dark secret and mediates when a revolt ensues. “The mediator between head and hands must be the heart!” The revolt is fueled by an android made to look like a saintly woman, but whose mechanical version is just the opposite. The Tech: machinery, videophones, cars, elevated trains, 10-hour clock, robots

Kirk and his crew find a ‘sleeper ship’ of genetically bred superhumans, led by the ruthless 20th century dictator Khan Noonian Singh, who tries to take over the ship with the help of a 23rd century archaeologist who falls in love with him.The Tech: eugenics, radio (ham signal - CQ), cryogenics, intercoms v. communicators, viewing screen in sickbay that ties into ship library tapes, hair doodads, literature (Milton), interstellar travel

Story takes place in the near future. A hitman has been making hits that have been contracted by an AI spam filter to eliminate spam by having the spammer assassinated. He’s been given instructions, information, and assistance through crowdsourcing. After figures out he’s actually working for a company, who he believes has turned on him, he kills much of their board of directors. However, he ultimately meets his end at the hands of another assassin filling a contract generated by another, competing computer from another, competing company.The Tech: artificial intelliigence, crowdsourcing, smart filters“The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.” ~ B.F. Skinner

A short story by Issac Asimov that looks at the future of education through the eyes of children 100+ years in the future (200 from publication date). Two children discover an ancient educational device in their grandma’s attic called a “book.” They marvel at the idea that children once went to school to be taught together by a person rather than have individual instruction at home on their mechanical “teacher.”The Tech: a mechanical "teacher"