Biology in Science Fiction Roundup: February 23 Edition

Every so often I read a claim that we are living in a science fictional world and that the future of the golden age of SF has come to pass. What BS. Until we have a tablet that cures the cold and flu, and friendly household robots that will sort and wash my accumulated laundry, cook dinner and do the dishes, and scrub the bathrooms, we are still living in the dark ages. Anyway, that's my excuse for not posting much the past week or so.

Here are some of the science fiction biology links I didn't get around to blogging:

Both CBS and NBC have released some of their old TV shows online for free, including scifi and horror classics. NBC's offerings include the Alfred Hitchcock Hour, original Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, and Rod Serling's Night Gallery. CBS has both the original Star Trek and the Twilight Zone.

At Bloggasm Simon Owens brown the news that Tor Books will be creating a new online community.

Two sources who spoke to me on condition of anonymity said that it’s intended to be a “go-to site, a central community” for science fiction and fantasy fans. A few authors have already been approached to submit original short fiction to be published online. Tor is paying upwards of 25 cents per word for these stories and right now is only dealing with solicited authors.

There will also be social networking-type features. If you haven't signed up for Tor's mailing list, do it now. You can get free ebooks to download (most recently John Scalzi's Old Man's War) and be among the first to learn about Tor's new online offerings.

There's a call for entries for the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York.

The objective of the festival is to screen films that effectively bring together science and the arts.The emphasis would be on fictional films about science and/or scientists with compelling narrative and exciting credible science.

Watch the ISFF trailer. (via Spoonful of Medicine)

io9 has the wrap-up from the recent party in LA in honor of the last issue of the comic Y: The Last Man. There are lots of insider tidbits about the series, including its origins as a project for the now-defunct Penthouse Comics. In case you missed out on the hoopla, Y: The Last Man is the story of Yorick, the only man who survives a world-wide plague, and his monkey. Download the first issue for free.

The Emirates Film Competition is taking place this week in Abu Dhabi. They not only have a science fiction category, it's split into several sub-categories, including "Viral Genetics" . The category appears to have a single entry: Les Inhumans, a 16 minute film in French by Olivier Monot. I guess he's a shoe-in.

At the The Panda's Thumb, Reed Cartwright writes about the movie WΔZ, a horror movie inspired by the Price Equation, which is a mathematical description of natural selection and evolution.

io9 has some great drawings of giant carnivorous plants that will be found on one of the alien worlds in the new Stargate Worlds MMORPG.

Christ Gorski of the American Institute of Physics takes a look at the science of fairy tales for LiveScience. If you've wondered about the strength of Rapunzel's hair, this is the article to read.

Tags:science fiction, biology