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We're exclusively premiering the new trailer for Syfy's miniseries "Childhood’s End," which just debuted at Comic-Con on Saturday morning. Get a good look at what Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi novel will look like in real life, right now. Set in a world that's already been conquered by aliens, this trailer actually shows the big "first contact" moment. "There’s no need to be afraid," says the alien voiceover. "We've come to help mankind. We are not conquerors."

Tonight's second feature is a classic bit of dark science fiction from the 1970s. Astronaut and pilot Tony Cellini (Gianni Garko) is in the throes of what most people on Moonbase Alpha believe is a mental breakdown. The only survivor of a disastrous mission that wrecked his career some years before, Cellini is once again claiming the existence of an impossible alien creature, one that Cellini is obsessed with destroying...

A Monday piece in IO9 contained some revelations about the upcoming sequel to 1996’s “Independence Day,” which is entitled “Independence Day: Resurgence.” 20 years after the great alien invasion flattened many of Earth’s largest cities and killed untold millions of people, the world is still united in building up its defenses against a return engagement. These defenses apparently include a moon base.

A former child actor who starred in one of the “Star Wars” movie prequels faces charges after leading South Carolina deputies on a high-speed chase. Colleton County Sheriff’s Sgt. Kyle Strickland said Sunday deputies on Wednesday arrested a 26-year-old man they confirmed through a former talent agent was Jake Lloyd. He played young Anakin Skywalker in the 1999 movie “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.”

One day in the 1970s, George Lucas screened a rough cut of his new movie, Star Wars, for his influential Hollywood friends. And almost none of them liked it. The plot seemed incomprehensible, the made-up fantasy names absurd. Director Brian De Palma, who had just had a big hit with Carrie, made fun of everything about the film, including Princess Leia’s hairstyle: “Hey, George, what were those Danish rolls doing in the princess’s ears?” Almost 40 years later, De Palma is mostly making low-budget movies, and the most-anticipated film of the year is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first...

I’m not sure if I’ll see Jurassic World but if I do, it will likely be for the reasons summed up by New York Post film critic Kyle Smith:

Lots of Star Wars fans hate marketing-friendly Ewoks from Return of the Jedi with a passion (related: lots of Star Wars fans apparently hate everything that is good in life) and were likely holding out hope that Warwick Davis’ return in The Force Awakens didn’t necessarily mean that Ewoks would be back. But they’re about to be disappointed: new promotional materials indicate that Davis will reprise his role of Wicket the Ewok.

Star Trek legend Nichelle Nichols suffered a mild stroke last night at her home in Los Angeles, according to a statement on her official Facebook page. "She is currently undergoing testing to determine how severe the stroke was," the statement read. "Please keep her in your thoughts." Nichols, who is 82 years old, earned her place in both Star Trek and entertainment history with her portrayal of Uhura in Star Trek: The Original Series and the six TOS feature films. She's also been a constant, joyous presence at Star Trek and sci-fi conventions all over the world. Additionally, Nichols achieved...

Harlan Ellison is still an angry young man, except he'll be 81 on May 27. He has used this anger, fueled by childhood anti-Semitism, throughout his extraordinary career as a writer of speculative fiction. This year saw the publication of his 116th and 117th (so far) books: The Top of the Volcano, a collection of his awardwinning short stories, and a graphic novelization of his original script for "The City on the Edge of Forever," widely considered the best Star Trek episode ever written. Although Ellison's hundreds of published stories contain a wealth of Jewish characters, his most complex creation...

Yup, spaceships again. Between Star Citizen, the new Halo, the new Star Wars, a couple of key mods for Sins of a Solar Empire that I keep up with and have done some voice work on, and Destiny, my mind has been buzzing with them. I’m a huge nerd who thinks of things in my free time like “if I were a shinigami what kind of Zanpakutō would I have?” and “I wonder if I’d rather be a ranger or a mage” and “ff I were a Jedi in the New Jedi Order, what kind of ship would I have?”...

It appears that ‘Star Trek Beyond‘ may be the title of the upcoming Star Trek film, lucky number 13 in the franchise. As far as the storyline is concerned, the title suggests that the new film will venture farther out into the galaxy than we have seen in the previous two Abrams films, as co-writer Simon Pegg has been hinting at for some time now.

A small clique of left-wing publishers, editors, writers, and fans have controlled the Hugo for years, and they are threatening to make sure the winner of this year’s Hugos are all “No Award.” Yes, “No Award” is a valid vote; it’s a shame that’s not an option in political elections. Larry Correia, Brad Torgerson, Vox Day, and all of the other “Puppies” supporters set out to demonstrate that the Hugo process was politicized and broken. They said that if authors were nominated who didn’t “fit the mold,” who weren’t approved by the ruling faction, they would be blacklisted, ostracized, insulted,...

J.J. Abrams, the director tasked with bringing Star Wars back to the top of the crowded franchise heap, has always been happy to borrow. When he set out to make a new Star Trek and drag that moribund cinematic franchise back into blockbuster territory, he cheerfully swapped in some very familiar visual language to help it over the hill. Early on in the film, James Kirk (Chris Pine), nursing a desire to transcend his farmboy life, rides a motorcycle to see the U.S.S. Enterprise being built at a shipyard, and gazes up at it longingly. Star Wars fans would connect...

Voiceover by Luke Skywalker? Cameo by gray-haired Han Solo? Another cameo by the black Stormtrooper? Not gonna lie. I plotzed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngElkyQ6Rhs

The first spacecraft to visit distant Pluto, a dwarf planet in the solar system’s frozen backyard, is still three months away from a close encounter, but already in viewing range, newly released photos show.

I was reading a post-mortem on the delicious Sad Puppies/Hugo nominations imbroglio last week when an interesting point came up. George R.R. Martin, the "Game of Thrones" chappie, wrote on his Not a Blog that Sad Puppies commenters on his blog should lose the Social Justice Warrior, or SJW moniker. Because courtesy. >>>Let's not throw around insults, or charges of misogyny and racism, please. And Puppies, sad or happy, if any of you feel inclined to reply, please avoid the term "Social Justice Warriors" or SJWs. I am happy to call you Sad Puppies since you named yourself that, but...

The Tunisian desert region used as a location for the original "Star Wars" and as a tourist destination for fans of the film franchise is now reportedly crawling with a threat more insidious than marauding Sand People — ISIS terrorists. Particularly hard hit has been Tataouine, the Tunisian town that inspired George Lucas to name Luke Skywalker's home planet, Tatooine, and now a pit stop for wannabe jihadists headed to join ISIS in nearby Libya, CNN reported. Three men were arrested nearby the town that's just 60 miles from the Libyan border and arms caches were confiscated nearby, one of...

A new patent granted to aircraft, defense and security company Boeing is taking its cues from science fiction. Just like the glowing energy shields seen protecting troops, machines and even spacecraft in Star Wars and Star Trek, the design -- named "Method and system for shockwave attenuation via electromagnetic arc" -- uses energy to deflect potential damage.

When I think of any kind of liquid metal form changing shape and moving around on its own accord, I can’t help but conjure up images of the T-1000 robot assassin from the movie, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Now scientists have made a little drop of metal that’s able to propel itself through liquid and change shape to fit through a narrow passage. Although this little drop of liquid metal is no shapeshifting Nanomorph, it does have some fascinating properties that could one day be used to develop new methods for delivering drugs through blood vessels. To make the liquid...