Why I Sci-Fi!

Ever since I was a little kid, I've always wanted to explore. Sometimes my adventures were close-- my neighborhood, the woods behind my school, a friend's backyard. When I wanted to travel further, I'd read books. Through the eyes of other characters I saw worlds of magic, of other times, of a distant future. Despite these adventures, I always wanted to go further. When I read  The Martian Chronicles  by Ray Bradbury, the dates seemed so close-- 2008, landing on Mars, 2025, people living on Mars, etc. But Bradbury wrote his stories in a time much further away from the new millennium than I lived. It was when I was in high school that I realized that traveling to space for the general populace was probably something that I wouldn't get to do in my lifetime. This doesn't mean, however, that  someone  wont reach Mars in time for me to see it. A larger version of this map is on the  Journey to Mars Website According to NASA's  Journey to Mars  webs...

The Movie Poster for Doctor Strange Image Source When we walked into the theaters to see Doctor Strange , understand that I'd been waiting for a long time for this movie to come out. Pretty much since the day that it was announced, I was ready to see it. Why? Well, firstly, it's a Marvel movie, and there are not any bad Marvel movies. Go ahead. Tell me about a bad Marvel movie... that's what I thought. Additionally, some of my favorite actors are in it! Benedict Cumberbatch(Smaug from The Hobbit and Sherlock Holmes from Sherlock) was to be the lead. Needless to say, this movie had big shoes to fill for me. And it filled them. The film begins with a lot of character development and conflict. After a life-changing accident, the title character is forced down from his pedestal as one of the world's best neurosurgeons to rock bottom. In his search to fix himself, he actually discovers secrets and abilities that go far beyond the miracles that he used to perform in th...

Sometimes science fiction authors come up with technology that we WISH we could have. When I read or watch Sci-fi, I always keep track of all of the inventions that I hope to see invented within my lifetime.  Here are my 4 favorites! Replicators! This is a current 3D Printer that is printing a hamburger. Image Source One of the most awesome inventions in Sci-Fi is the replicator. Replicators are used to create food or other simple objects seemingly from thin air. It's a little similar to the 3-D printers that we have now, but much more advanced. In Star Trek  the replicators use some sort of organic material to create food, supplies, etc at the molecular level. But that's not all-- the food that they replicate is always nutritional!  Want ice-cream or cake without any calories? Done! A greasy pizza without the heartburn? Done! Additionally, you don't have to cook it! You're a 5-Star chef at the press of a button! Holodecks/Holographic Rooms ...

Nearly two-thirds of American adults own a smartphone. We’re tied to our technology-- imagine if it had never been invented. Luckily, science fiction authors were there to help inspire new ideas and inventions with their writing. Science Fiction is beneficial to society because it has helped to inspire new inventions, and it allows people to think about our future. Goddard and his rocket in early stages. Image Source  Firstly, science fiction has helped society by inspiring new inventions. According to Smithsonian.com, inventor Robert H. Goddard “became fascinated with spaceflight after reading an 1898 newspaper serialization of H.G. Wells’ classic novel... War of the Worlds. ” He later went on to build the first rocket.  Without this inspiration, Goddard may never have been inspired to create the rocket-- which means much of the space exploration that scientists have done wouldn't exist. Science fiction was also the inspiration behind the cell phone, which is based...

Sometimes new inventions pop up in the news, and you have to wonder if they're even real! The older I get, the more "space-age" type technology starts showing up in real life. A lot of these cool new inventions were inspired by science fiction from year's past. I'll talk about a few of these in this blog post. 1: The Submarine I wrote about Jules Verne in a previous post linked here. His story 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea  inspired the invention of the Submarine. Verne's story was published in 1870 and featured the Nautilus -- a huge submarine that helped Captain Nemo battle a giant squid. The first submarine was finished in 1898 by American inventor Simon Lake. Lake said that he was directly influence by Verne's story. Here's the late Leonard Nemoy with one of the "communicators." 2: The Cell Phone When Motorola began developing plans for a communications device that you could take anywhere, they looked to Star Trek  for inspi...

This is Jules Verne ( Image Source ) Science Fiction is a genre that's often taken for granted. Nowadays, we're constantly confronted by images of aliens, rocket ships, and far off planets to be discovered. In fiction, we've colonized Mars-- made first encounters with both gracious and evil aliens. This wasn't always the case, however. There was an age where these kinds of ideas were very much alien-- but Jules Verne changed all of that! Ever heard of the Nautilus? Around the World in 80 Days?  All of these stories sprung from the mind of French author Jules Verne. Born in a port city in France, Verne watched the ships and travelers of his home town in constant wonder. Though he wouldn't get to sail the seas and explore until much later in life, the idea of exploration enticed his imagination through his childhood and young adulthood. This is an original illustration from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. ( Image Source ) Verne's writing didn't take ...

So Star Wars came out, and it was amazing. I won't spoil anything for you, but you should I'm all for Frylo Ren here, but I'd also like a Ms. Po-Rey-To Head. Image Source definitely see it. Unfortunately, this post is about something I haven't seen. It's missing from toy departments all over the country. It's Rey. You know-- Rey! The main character. The awesome girl who kicks some real butt and stands up to the Dark Side baddies? The girl who can repair space ships? As I wondered through the toy section of Kohl's the other day, the trending discussion of missing Rey toys was confirmed. The aisle was filled Star Wars  merchandise, but no Rey. There was even a Kylo Ren Mr. Potatohead... and no Rey. Let's have a little flashback to my childhood to share why this issue causes me so much rage. It's 1998. The  Star Wars  trilogy is playing for a second time in theaters, and I'm out-of-my-mind excited. I've seen the movies before, b...