Sci Fi News Bytes 2

The Expanse Updates

Amazon has confirmed that The Expanse will screen in December. HNEntertainment reports that filming for season 5 will begin in Toronto in October and finish in February.

Jonathan Frakes on Star Trek: Picard

Yes, Riker returns to Star Trek, and Frakes returns to directing. Science Fiction reports on Frake’s spoiler-free comments about his role in Star Trek: Picard at the Star Trek Los Vegas Convention here: STLV19

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is going to be made into a TV show.

This is exciting news! There are now 32 radio episodes that have either been turned into books or come from books (depending on which episode you’re listening to) and the series continues on based on Douglas Adam’s extensive notes. With a huge fan following of the old series, the movie and the books, it’s bound to be a ratings winner. Check out Deadline’s report of Hulu’s involvement here: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy TV Show in the Works

Dune

Dune’s release has been put back to December, which means it’ll be up against a lot of competition. Let’s hope it doesn’t die in new. Here’s the update from Science Fiction: Dune

Event Horizon as a TV series

When I first saw Event Horizon at the cinema, I marvelled at finally seeing a movie by writers who knew what happens when you decompressed in the vacuum of space. (You don’t explode!) This, in my view, was one of the things that stopped it from being labelled a B-grade sci fi horror movie. However, I’m worried that a TV series with a more limited budget is not going to bother getting any experts on board. (Anyone remember that scene from X-Files where Scully puts a bandaid on Skinner’s stomach hole?) If they can get some experts on it, and just keep it a bit more accurate, this science fiction horror in the depths of space near a black hole will be awesome! Thank you Amazon! Read the report by Variety.

Lost in Space Season 2

Digital Spy reports that Lost in Space Season 2 is likely to be on Netflix either late 2019 or early 2020. The main cast will be back, apparently. With so many shows opting for a 2020 release, it’s possible Lost in Space will be released earlier.

Red Dwarf XIII filming to commence in November

Express.co.uk report that the new Red Dwarf season is likely to be out in 2020, probably around October, though the Red Dwarf team can’t confirm that at this point.

Doctor Who goes to wartime France

The Doctor is no stranger to wartime France, having visited various time zones on screen in a number of different incarnations. And now, it’s Jodie Whittaker’s turn. However, there’s nothing more about that here. This article from Radio Times is focused on rejecting the rumors about a possible exit of Chris Chibnall and others, and doesn’t say much more. As soon as we have more on the wartime France episode, we’ll let you know.

Sci Fi Movie First Signal

First Signal is a First Contact movie, but one that hasn’t even been shopped around that much yet. Recorder.com reports that the movie has quite a compelling basis. Exploring the idea that governments know about the existence of extra-terrestrials and how that might play out if one of them decides to make things official. It could be worth following.

Locus Report on a Sci Fi conference in Beijing

Wait! China? Science Fiction? If you missed Liu Cixin’s The Three Body Problem’s Hugo Award you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about. Science Fiction is now big in China. If you’re a writer, you might be interested in seeing what you can do about getting in now while the foundations are being built. Check out Locus’ fascinating report here: SF in Beijing Report

Alien Dimensions

Alien Dimensions #16 is now available on various platforms. The popular science fiction anthology series, now in its third year, features new and established writers from around the world. The Issue #16 ebook can now be found on Apple iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and various other platforms, as well as Amazon. Find out more here:

Alien Dimensions #16

Children of Ruin

Still in the top 100 on Amazon, here’s the blurb:

The astonishing sequel to Children of Time, the award-winning novel of humanity’s battle for survival on a terraformed planet.

Thousands of years ago, Earth’s terraforming program took to the stars. On the world they called Nod, scientists discovered alien life – but it was their mission to overwrite it with the memory of Earth. Then humanity’s great empire fell, and the program’s decisions were lost to time.

Aeons later, humanity and its new spider allies detected fragmentary radio signals between the stars. They dispatched an exploration vessel, hoping to find cousins from old Earth.

But those ancient terraformers woke something on Nod better left undisturbed.

And it’s been waiting for them.

More details here: Children of Ruin

Space Opera

When I first saw Valente’s book, I thought she was claiming the SEO words ‘Space Opera’ to get her novel to rate highly. How wrong I was. This is up there with Hitchhikers and Red Dwarf. Aliens and humour galore, as humans attempt to win the galaxy’s favour in a singing contest. Will Earth be saved, or will the songs of Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeroes result in the destruction of the entire Solar System?

And best still, it’s going to be made into a film. I’m expecting, and hoping for, something like the Fifth Element. Science Fiction did a great write up, which you can read here: Joe Epstein is Getting Ready to Sing us a Space Opera

Comment

For a while now I’ve been rejecting the idea of dark matter – the bandaid solution for physicists. Personally I would have simply ignored it like most people since 1922, but with the Orville using it as a necessary plot device, and Another Life using it as a way to extend the storyline, I thought I’d best come out and say I really don’t believe that dark matter exists. I mean, come on! When did scientists start believing in stuff that has absolutely no evidence? There’s no such thing as consensus in the scientific community. Where are all the other perspectives? Now, dark energy I can get behind. But dark matter? Why not just say millions of temporary black holes, or a dense metal we haven’t discovered yet? You know, there’s been a reason this idea has been buried for almost a hundred years!

And so, I read with relief that further work has been done on the concept of info-entropic geometry proving that there are ways to measure the universe without the need for dark matter. Finally! Read a summary on The Conversation of their research here: Info-Entropic Geometry

Science catches up with Science Fiction

Check out this new UFO model currently looking for funding to develop it as a private vehicle: ADIFO https://vimeo.com/325883719

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 About Sci Fi News Bytes

Released weekly, Sci Fi News Bytes reports on streaming and print series that feature spaceships and aliens. On a spoiler ranking of 1 is a blank page and 5 is the entire plot, our news would be around a 2.

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