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FILM: Wonder Woman Sequel Delayed to 2020

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Wonder Woman

“Wonder Woman 1984,” the highly anticipated sequel to “Wonder Woman,” will have a longer wait for the big screen. Gal Gadot revealed that the film has been pushed back seven months from its original date of Nov. 1, 2019. The new release date is set for June 5, 2020. “Super excited to announce that, thanks to the changing landscape, we are able to put Wonder Woman back to its rightful home. June 5, 2020. Be there or be square!!!” Gadot posted. By Mariah Cooper – Full Story at The Washington Blade

SPACE: We’re Not Looking Hard Enough for Aliens. Really.

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radio telescope - pixabay

Where are all the aliens? For decades, humans have searched for artificial signals, yet the skies above remain silent. But new research suggests that researchers’ investigations have so far not been particularly exhaustive; if the total possible search space were equivalent to the all the water in Earth’s oceans, we have examined only a hot tub’s worth of volume. In many movies, the galaxy teems with intelligent life-forms who zip around on spaceships and produce other obvious signs of their existence. In reality, programs like the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) have encountered no noticeable transmissions from another species. That … Read more

SCIENCE: You Can Remember Up to 10,000 Faces

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faces - pixabay

How many faces do you retain in your memory? If you add up your immediate and extended family, schoolmates, friends, co-workers, and celebrities that you know through movies, television and the internet, you might easily be able to list a few hundred faces that you’d recognize on sight. But the real number of faces stored in your brain may be much higher than that. For the first time, researchers have pinned down the number of faces that people remember; the findings come from a small study of 25 people ages 18 to 61 years old. The answer: 5,000 on average … Read more

SCIENCE: Climate Change May Ruin Beer

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beer - pixabay

If the results of last week’s chilling U.N. climate report drove you to drink this weekend, first of all — we’re sorry. We don’t like it, either. Here’s a photo of a majestic elk sneezing to make you feel better. Secondly, we hate to say it, but we’ve got even more bad news for anyone hoping to drown their sorrows during that apocalyptic future. According to a new study in the journal Nature Plants, it looks like rising global temperatures are going to ruin beer for us too — and your next pity pint could soon cost you more than … Read more

FOR READERS: Whiz Bang Tech

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Robotech Veritech

FOR READERS Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: What kind of sci-fi tech makes you go “OOOOOOOOOOOH!!!”? For a long time, for me it was transforming vehicles. The Veritech’s from “Robotech,” the cars from the short-lived “Pole Position” cartoon, and of course “M.A.S.K.” among others. I think, from a nostalgia perspective, “Mighty Orbots” is my favorite of them all, if only because of the specific mention of matter manipulation tech in the transformation and unity process. Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works … Read more

SPACE: Are There Moonmoons Out There?

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Moonmoon - Pixabay

True to form, the internet has endeavored to name an unnamed thing, and the results are hilarious. From the people who brought you Boaty McBoatface— the Arctic research drone that has already returned some very interesting discoveriesfrom the world’s coldest abysses — here come moonmoons: moons that orbit other moons. Moonmoons — also known online as submoons, moonitos, grandmoons, moonettes and moooons — may not exist in our solar system or any other. However, according to a pair of astronomers writing in the preprint journal arXiv.org earlier this week, the concept of a moon hosting its own mini-moon is, at … Read more

TECH: Humanoid Robot Atlas Can Now Do Parkour – That’s Not at All Terrifying

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Boston Dynamics

Remember Atlas, the robot that can run like a person? It can now do a lot more than that. Robotics company Boston Dynamics posted a new video on YouTube showcasing the robot’s latest progress, carrying it past its prior agility goals in leaps and bounds — literally. “Atlas does parkour,” Boston Dynamics wrote in the video description. Footage shows Atlas nimbly leaping over a log and skipping between platforms of different heights “without breaking its pace,” according to the description. As Atlas navigates the challenges of the obstacle course, a slow-motion sequence emphasizes the precision in its movements as it … Read more

SPACE: Jupiter Flies Its Bi Flag

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Bi Jupiter - NASA

Jupiter can be seen in a whole new light in a photo released by NASA showing the planet in the colours of the trans flag. The photo, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in February 2017 and posted on Tuesday (October 16) on the US government space agency’s Astronomy Picture of the Day page, shows the largest planet in our Solar System in near-ultraviolet light—leading to its white, pink and blue appearance.  “Jupiter appears different in near ultraviolet light, partly because the amount of sunlight reflected back is distinct, giving differing cloud heights and latitudes discrepant brightnesses,” NASA explains … Read more

SCIENCE: AI is Crossing the Uncanny Valley

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Mica

The tech world’s latest virtual assistant looks so realistic, you might mistake her for an actual human. Apple has Siri, and Amazon has Alexa. But the lifelikeness of both are dwarfed by Mica: a prototype that Magic Leap, a highly regarded augmented-reality startup, unveiled at its conference Wednesday. Mica isn’t just a voice assistant. She’s something you can actually see if you wear the company’s augmented-reality glasses, called Magic Leap One. Mica looks and acts like a human — she makes eye contact and offers a warm smile, along with other human-like expressions. Experts say Mica is a breakthrough in … Read more

SCIENCE: Vampire Girl Burial Discovered in Italy

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Vampire Child - Live Science

A 1,550-year-old “vampire burial” of a child with a rock stuffed into his or her mouth has been discovered in an ancient cemetery in Lugnano, Italy. Those who buried the child, who possibly died of malaria, may have used the rock to prevent him or her (the child’s sex isn’t known) from rising from the grave and spreading disease to other people, said a team of researchers in a statement released Oct. 12 by the University of Arizona. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s extremely eerie and weird,” said David Soren, an anthropology professor at the University of Arizona, … Read more