So is time travel even possible or is it just something that science fiction writers invented? If you ask the scientists, it may indeed be theoretically possible. The problem is, there are different theories as to how it could be done. Famous physicist Stephen Hawking has been speaking out on the subject recently, no longer afraid of being labelled a crank for his ideas on time travel. In this article, he looks at the idea of linking wormholes in space to travel to the past, but concludes that it is impossible to move backwards in time, but things by accelerating to a very fast speed we'd be able to travel to the future due to the effects of time dilation as you approach the speed of light. Unfortunately, it's a one-way trip. While Hawking isn't sold on travelling through wormholes, others have not dismissed the idea entirely. Another line of thinking is the quantum time machine. With such a device, you'd just change the variables in the mathematical equation defining time travel until one of them allowed it to be true. That sounds like a whole lot of theory. Don't ask anyone how that could actually be done. This article goes explains the idea of quantum time travel in a little more detail, but it still sounds as improbable as journeying through worm holes or accelerating to the speed of light. Let's just agree that the boffins believe that time travel is possible. It's just a long way from actually happening. For now the only way to travel into the future is to keep on doing what you're doing so that you will get there one minute at a time.

When I spotted a link to the science fiction movie Primer from IO9, I was going to urge you stop what you are doing and head over to Google Video to watch it where it had made it freely available for anyone to watch online. The only thing is the video isn't there so maybe it wasn't legit. I'm sure you can find it from other online sources if you do a bit of searching. It really is worth seeking out. I'm not surprised to find it on this recent list of the 16 most intelligent science fiction movies. I was also pleased to see Gattaca on the top of the list, which I was just mentioning the other day because it appeared on a list of underappreciated sci-fi movies. If you want to watch other science fiction movies online, you may not be aware that YouTube has a movies channel where you can watch full-length films. The usual categories are represented, including science fiction, although the pickings are slim and you won't find any of the titles on the aforementioned best-of lists. For even more schlocky online movie watching, here's a long list of 100 science fiction films, arranged by decade. It would take a long time, and a strong constitution, to wade through all of them.

Our galaxy is teeming with Earth-like planets. As a science fiction fan, you probably already figured that was the case, but now there's some real science to prove that it's true. In recent years, astronomers have been finding all sorts of exoplanets, but they are bizarre, gas giants orbiting close to their suns at tremendous speeds. The new Kepler Space Telescope can spot much smaller worlds and has already identified an amazing 140 candidates for planets that are Earth-like, at least in size. Whether or not these worlds have atmospheres like ours or water is not known yet, but don't rule out the possibility that life may be there if those elements are not present. There are plenty of scientists who think you don't need water to harbour life. For those of you who subscribe to the water=life theory, then you may be intrigued to learn that some experts believe that our neighbouring planet, Mars, once had 1/3 of its surface covered by oceans. Perhaps movie director James Cameron will help us better understand the red planet. He's convinced NASA to let him film the place in 3D on one of their upcoming missions. Forget Avatar, this the Cameron movie I want to see! Of course, the UFO conspiracists will tell you were wasting our time wondering whether or not life lives elsewhere in the universe. There's already a vast, government conspiracy covering up the UFO fact.

So how do you decide which books to read? Many of us rely on word-of-mouth from friends or from other fans posting reviews on websites like this one, but some of us are now turning to book recommendation engines. These are social websites which compile the likes of its members to crunch the stats to come up reading ideas for you. If the thought of your tastes being boiled down to a mere algorithm is distasteful, be aware that there are professional book recommenders. No, it's not a recommendation you get from reading a professional book review. It's a flesh-and-blood person who quizzes you on your tastes and comes up with a reading list for you. We used to call those people librarians. If that sounds too pricey, you could always turn to free web quizzes like this one which lets you decide which flavour of apocalyptic fiction is right for you.  

It looks like a critical backlash against the science fiction movies Inception has begun. This article points out how the number of positive reviews for the film seems to be sliding from the early days. It theorizes that the earliest reviews were from those no-good, uncritical "bloggers" who don't know anything about movies when compared to those exalted, mainstream newspaper reviewers. I'd argue that the latter group will tend to give the film lower marks because they have difficulty grasping original science fiction movies that aren't all about special effects and laser battles. It's a fairly common occurance to see mainstream critics give low marks to genre films that are beloved by fans who can be very demanding when it comes to what qualifies as a good science fiction film. As this writer points out, a similar situation arouse when Eterntal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was released. Many loved it, but a goodly percentage didn't understand it and hated it as a result. Inception director Christopher Nolan has already distinguishes himself in the eyes of genre fans with his movie the Dark Knight, but also for his underappreciated The Prestige. On the subject of underappreciated science fiction movies, here's a top 10 list which is topped by my favourite, Gattaca. When someone revises the list in a decade or so, perhaps Inception will be there. At least it's helping salvage a mediocre summer movie season.  

I've never been to a Comic-Con in my life, but judging by the way things are going, what was once considered geek nirvana seems to be turning into an exercise in Hollywood PR. As this writer points out, the annual San Diego convention has strayed far from its comic-book roots and it won't be long before the "cool" kids outnumber the fanboys. Can the convention survive the shift? It's not just Hollywood movies which are getting pumped up at Comic-Con, but genre TV shows as well and sorts of other SF & F products. Call it the revenge of the nerds, but the studio suits are flogging their wares at the convention in order for the fans to generate plenty of free word-of-mouth publicity for them. Of course, the flip-side of generating postive buzz is that it's just as possible to have the fans turn on you and start bad-mouthing your product before it goes public. As this blogger points out, some fans are enjoying their new-found powers and have become self-important critics that use the internet to bash what they dislike and fawn over what they do like. If you ask me, the best thing about the convention are the costumes, especially those sported by the female fans.

The news that Amazon is selling more electronic books for its Kindle than hardcover books is interesting. Does it signal some sort of tipping point that e-books have passed into the mainstream? I've found myself reading e-books more and more and am perfectly comfortable with them, although they have their limitations, but I think that is mostly a problem when people try to adapt text from an existing printed form into an electronic one and the result is less than optimal. The problem remains whether or not selling e-books, or e-any kind of media, is going to be sustainable in the long term. As this essay bluntly states, the internet is a copying machine and once copies are super-abundant, they become worthless. Will that happen to books and other media? People will pay for scarcity, but soon supply is going to outstrip demand. The other thing I have found with electronic books is that they are even easier to amass than the physical ones which already strain my shelves to the point that they are becoming warped. When you can fit hundreds of electronic books in your pocket, you find that you want to read them all and end up skimming more than you would with "real" books. Some think that we are becoming accustomed to skimming by reading on the internet. We're more interested in learning new facts than we are in actually absorbing those facts and taking the time to digest them. That has led some to propose a "slow reading" movement. I am all for it, but I wish I could read faster and with sufficient comprehension that I can actually plow through those books, physical and electronic, which are threating to bury me.  

I am excited by the news that Daniel Radcliffe, the eponymous star of the Harry Potter movies, is set to play in a new horror movie adapted from the novel The Woman in Black. It's not the news that Radcliffe is making a movie that's got me excited, but that it will be the first film from a revived Hammer Films. While known mostly as a horror studio of schlocky vampire movies during the 50s, 60s and 70s, they also made some science fiction titles, most notably The Quatermass Xperiment. I am curious to see what sort of success the studio has, although it seems unlikely that they can recreate the spirit of the original studio. It's sort of like those revivals of the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories. Each time they tried, the magazine seemed a little less amazing than the original.  

A Chicago newspaper editor once instructed his Civil War correspondants "when there is no news, send rumours."  He obviously foresaw the era of internet journalism. The latest rumour that isn't news is a tidbit from the Sun in the U.K. that the latest Doctor Who, Matt Smith, will stick around for just one more season before taking off for Hollywood to try his hand at being a movie star. It's worked so well for all of the other actors who've played Doctor Who. (That last line is me being sarcastic.) Although there is a Hollywood rumour about a former Doctor Who actor who may have a major role in an upcoming film. There's talk that Sylvester McCoy may play Bilbo Baggins in the planned Hobbit movie. At this point, I'd be happy to just have it made. There so much disarray within MGM that it might never happen. I do like one viewer's comment on Smith's departure from Doctor Who. Bring Christopher Eccleston back. He's the guy who lasted only one season before he took off for brighter lights. Now that would be a new twist for the show.

Not long ago, I was commenting on how I would like to see a collected letters of Robert Heinlein. That might not be coming any time soon, but an authorized biography is coming soon on the man who many consider to be science fiction's greatest author. The first volume of the biography is coming out in August and will be titled Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century: Volume 1 (1907-1948): Learning Curve. To get people excited about the release, the publisher, which is Tor, has asked a number of prominent science fiction authors to name their favourite Heinlein books. The first response to be posted is from David Brin who cites Beyond This Horizon as his fave. I can't say that I've read that one, but I have certainly read many of Heinlein's books. I cannot decide between The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Starship Troopers. Both are fantastic books. So what is your favourite Heinlein?

Leonard DiCaprio's first starring-role in a science fiction movie looks like it is a success, despite his self-admited lack of interest in the genre. It is a dark, sci-fi mystery called Inception that is set to open tomorrow, but is already wowing the critics. Some are calling the movie a masterpiece and there is even talk that DiCaprio's performance in the movie is Oscar worthy. In honour of the movie's arrival, Rotten Tomatoes has compiled a list of equally impressive sci-fi film noir that are worth seeing if you haven't already.

If you'll pardon the pun, steampunk seems to be gathering some steam. Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest, is a Hugo-nominated novel which is one example of a growing number of books and other works in this interesting sub-genre of science fiction which fuses modern knowledge with Victorian technology. It's been around for a while, but the internet seems to have helped incubate this movement to the point where it is almost mainstream. Mainstream for other science fiction fans, I should clarify. I don't think it's even close to being mainstream for the mainstream. I mention the topic, because I was engrossed by this excellent overview of the elevated profile of steampunk these days. I can say that I am somewhat partial to the genre, partially because I have always enjoyed the original Victorian fantastic fiction upon which steampunk is ultimately based. I am referring to authors like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells and their ilk. Modern steampunk feels like modernized versions of those old books which, in effect, they are. Here is an interesting website that fully embodies the steampunk spirit. It is only one such site. I'm sure you can find a whole lot more using your trusty search engine. Heck, even the term search engine sounds Victorian.  

Looking for some beach reading? How about book recommendations from scientists? You probably won't be surprised that there's a fair amount of science fiction in the list, but there are some non-fiction entries, too. If you prefer your recommendations from critics, check out this roundup of reviews of some new science fiction book releases from the Denver Post. For something a bit different, here's a review of a new shared-setting anthology edited by John Scalzi. I've always liked the idea of writers collaborating to flesh out a world together, but it never seems to fully click. I think that sort of thing works better more established universes like Star Trek or Star Wars. They have matured to the point where there is enough back story that the reader can quickly jump in. Have you ever wondered why established science fiction writers would stoop to writing for media tie-ins for established franchises like Predators or Halo? IO9 recently asked some of them for their reasons and the responses were quite interesting.

If you are interested in marketing a hand-held laser, don't make it look too much like a Star Wars light saber or George Lucas will be after you. That's what's happened to one company which unveiled such a device. Don't even think of creating a faster-than-light spaceship, or he's going to get his lawyers on you as well. Keeping on the subject of Star Wars for a moment, you are probably familiar with the famous movie poster for it. What you might not know is that it was created by the famous Hildebrandt brothers. They tell the story behind the iconic image in this interesting, but brief, article. One last Star Wars link to dump on you before I go. This one is a highly amusing video of ewok karaoke. It sounds like a fun activity to do at your next party, but be sure that everyone is liquoured up first. Hilarity is guaranteed.  

Predators is the latest movie in that mediocre franchise which keeps on going for some inexplicable reason. I can understand the success of the first movie as a summer action movie and perhaps a sequel to cash in on the popularity of the first, but why do we need another one? Let's not even mention the Aliens/Predators cross-over movies. It turns out that this installment, titled Predators, may not be as brainless as the others. Perhaps, it's because the big star is an actual actor and not an Austrian bodybuilder leading a bunch of wrestlers around on the screen. It seems to be getting more positive than negative ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and the score is mixed on Metacritic, although the fan rating there is through the roof, which might go a long way to explaining why this movie was made. Roger Ebert, a critic who I always turn to for his opinion, doesn't seem to think very highly of the movie. If you don't think much of Ebert, or professional critics in general, why not become your own film critic? As this article explains, anyone can do it thanks to the internet. In fact, you may not even have to leave your house to be a movie critic as studios are considering the idea of distributing first-run movies direct to your home in the future.  

Will Paolo Bacigalupi's first novel The Windup Girl end up winning the Hugo? It's next on my reading list, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it will just because of all the other awards it's been winning like the Nebula and the Locus award for best first novel. All that attention has the Washington Post publishing a belated review of the book. Bacigalupi has since written another book called Ship Breaker. Here's a mini review of the book and a profile of the author. As an added bonus, it explains how to properly pronounce his name. If you like belated reviews, the Guardian is going back to examine past Hugo winners. Their most recent write-up was on Larry Niven's Ringworld. Niven's book is included in Gollancz Science Fiction Masterworks series which consists of close to 100 books. Some ambitious bloggers aim to read all of them and review them along with Gollancz's Fantasy Masterworks books. I picked up that last link from this blog which lists all of the titles in the series and asks readers how many of the books they have actually read. I've only read about half of them which means I've got lots of catching up to do. Of course, that prompts the question, can you have too many books? This observer tackles that conundrum.  

John Scalzi has an another list of science fiction movies that he offers up to directors looking for recognizable titles to remake for modern audiences. The last time he did, he listed 80s movies. This time around he's taking a look at films from the 70s. Don't be surprised when he pulls out lists of 60s and 50s movies soon. I do like that he doesn't automatically go for the most successful movies, but rattles off some pretty awful titles that weren't successful, but had the potential to be good. That follows my remake rule to take something bad and make it better. And speaking of movies by the decade, Den of Geek compiles a list of science fiction movies by decade to illustrate what styles defined each decade. There are also books and TV series in the mix. You may just find something there that you have never seen before. Before Scalzi gets to his list of movies from the 50s, how about a book from that decade that has yet to be made into a movie? I'm speaking of Have Spacesuit, Will Travel which is an OK book, but probably doesn't live up to its great title. An indie producer is taking a stab at adapting that Robert Heinlein classic into a movie some time soon.

I am a great fan of science fiction art and I can appreciate the different styles from the genre's various eras, but I think I am most fond of this sort of stuff from the 70s, perhaps because that is when I was first starting to devour sci-fi in earnest around then. If I grew up in Japan, this is probably the sort of far-out stuff I would have been geeking out to at the time. It's interesting to see how sci-fi art has evolved since then. These examples of futuristic cities are good examples of the sort of digital art that is in fashion today. More examples of modern science fiction art can be found in this collection of DeviantArt wallpapers and if that doesn't satisfy you, browse CoolVibe's archive of Sci-fi Wallpaper of the Week entries. What's your favourite era for science fiction art?

When the American Sci Fi channel rebranded itself to SyFy, not everyone was happy about the move, but from a branding and business perspective, it made a lot of sense, especially in the world of online search where a generic term like sci fi is going to turn up a lot of websites, whereas SyFy is more distinctive. The creator of SyFy Portal, the website that relinquished the rights to the brand, takes a look back at the one-year anniversary of the switch, congralutes the network for its success and pats himself on the back for having come up with such a brilliant name. The reality is that the brand name allowed them to get away from actually programming much science fiction in an effort to appeal to a broader audience. The core science fiction fans who were turned off by the move are now mobilizing an effort to create a channel which actually programs the genre that they love and not reality shows and wrestling. I can back that idea, but do they actually need a television channel? Some independent producers of television shows are now looking at the web as their method of distribution, bypassing the networks completely. The most recent example is the slick sci-fi show called Pioneer One which was designed to be distributed as a torrent file. Why not create a TV "channel" which distributes science fiction shows online the way that VODO does with indie filmmakers?

I am always intrigued by the way that authors are adapting to new publishing technologies. One author who's been breaking all the rules is Robin Sloan. He's completely ignored the usual publishing gatekeepers and has come up with a variety of stunts that have him collecting decent money. I have no idea if his stories are worth reading as I am not at all familiar with his work, but I give him kudos for his inventiveness. His most recent method to get his book written was to seek startup funding from donours and if he reached his target, he'd release the book for free. He made more money than most authors get for their first books. A Canadian science fiction magazine called AE tried a similar approach and appeared to reach their funding goal, but one of their backers didn't actually have money to invest with them. One publisher doesn't like the direction that things are going and is stepping back to make something old new again. They are publishing stories on vinyl records in an effort to get us to slow down a bit. I assume they are starving artists and don't actually want to make any money or it's a clever ruse to get people to pay attention to their company. The downside of this migration to electronic platforms is that it will erode the future of "bookshelf porn," those delicious photos of other people's book collections that re-assure all of us bibliophiles that we are not the only ones afflicted.