Kevin Singer's Blog, page 10

Why not Venus?

It’s been described as Earth’s twin, our sister planet, roughly the same size and composition as the home world we all know and love. But it’s the hellish parts of Venus that make it our evil twin: –Its atmospheric pressure is nearly 100 times greater than on Earth. If you set foot on Venus you would […]

Doctor Who: the companion takes charge

Doctor Who. the brilliant, long-running British sci-fi classic, is a vexing show when it comes to one element: the companions. Basically, the companions of the time-traveling alien are stand-ins for the audience. The companion 1) allows the Doctor to explain, in exposition form, whatever is going on, and 2) serves to humanize the Doctor. And the […]

Ascension — a fatal bait-and-switch

I have to give the SyFy network some credit. After taking a strange turn away from all things sci-fi several years ago, they’re making an effort to cultivate new sci-fi programming. Helix, for example, is a solid, if not great, show. I was excited to see the promos for SyFy’s new miniseries (and possible series) Ascension. Not just […]

So long, River Song

If this brief interview is any hint, we won’t be seeing the return of two of the most interesting Doctor Who characters—River Song and Captain Jack Harkness—as long as head writer Steven Moffat is around. I for one am disappointed. River Song, as played by Alex Kingston, was a larger-than-life character in a show filled with […]

Time’s arrow and our weird universe

Our universe, and the nature of time, may be much stranger than we ever could have imagined. Think about this. What is time? It is something that can be measured.Seconds, minutes, hours, years, millennia. But unlike other properties of our physical world, it only goes in one direction. You can’t add or subtract time, not […]

Is Peter Pan a villain?

When it comes to storytelling, who is the villain and who is the hero? Sometimes it depends on point of view. Take Peter Pan. Originally written by J.M. Barrie, the story of the lost boy from Neverland has been popularized by Disney, on Broadway and on television. We all know the story of Peter Pan, the […]

Mars attacked!

Was there once a grand civilization on our neighboring planet that was annihilated by a nuclear attack? One researcher says yes. While it’s impossible to prove (for now), the sci-fi geek in me loves this story. Mars has gotten some, but not enough, attention in the world of sci-fi. H.G. Wells got the ball rolling […]

Read this book: Black Moon

Have you ever had a wicked bout of insomnia? It’s near dawn and you haven’t been able to sleep, no matter what you do. The world outside your bedroom is fast asleep, but not you. And slowly, you begin to hate all these lucky sleepers as your mind jumps and skitters. Imagine if that insomnia […]

See this movie: Interstellar

Take a smart director and two of the best actors working today, and add a sweeping sci-fi plot, and you get Interstellar. While not a perfect film, it’s definitely worth the hype, and your time. I’ve been a fan of writer/director Christopher Nolan since Memento, his time-twisting tale of an amnesiac. Since then, he’s gone on […]

When scientists forget what it’s like to be human

I love science. I love the exploration of the natural world around us. I love the step-by-step discovery process. I love the details and wonder. I believe in the scientific method. But sometimes I wonder if scientists know how to deal with fellow humans. First let me explain. Humans are often irrational. We have drives […]