Dick's Ubik news, Lost Amazon Tribe, Denver Alien, Gartner Future Technologies and Ricky Gervais is an Alien

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 31st May Include:

• Philip K. Dick's Ubik to be filmed - In case you missed our other Dick posts .... once again we will hope that it finally manages to do justice to the genius of his work ..... mmmhhhh we will see
• Lost tribe found in Amazon - Real News right out of a sci-fi / fantasy plot .... all we need to find now is that they have domesticated some pet dinosaurs and are still harnessing the ancient lost Atlantean technologies, and the story will be complete
• Denver Alien Footage - Not so real news ... probably
• Gartner Top 10 future Technologies - We love top 10 lists and we have seen most of these predicted before ... but it is always good to re-iterate
• Ricky Gervais in Sci-fi Comedy - Gervais plays a lying Alien in This Side of the Truth living in an alternate, honest reality

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Technology Singularity is closer & closer, Mcguire Spidey, Donnie Darko II, Next Gen browsers, Veg in Space, See NY to London, Stranger Things TV

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 30th May Include:

• Intelligent Computers to recognise emotions - as we take one step closer to the Technology Singularity (TS)
• Monkey Operates Robot Arm - and another step closer to the Technology Singularity .... is it my imagination or are we getting closer, faster with each article you read ...... oh, I forgot that is the point!
• Mcguire may play Spidey after all - Another rumour (now this is the way to promote your film!!) maybe Toby is going to play spidey again. This is also the io9 guys take on who should play the role though
• Donnie Darko Sequel - The first film was so good that they really shouldn't go here ... maybe we are wrong but we have seen too many good films having their reputation besmirched by bad sequels, and this one doesn't sound like it will inspire us to change our minds
• Web browsing in the future - ever wonder how, or where you will be browsing the web in the future? Well Google believes it's new open source "Android" software is the mobile browser of the future ... and we think they may just be right considering how pervasive they all ready are
• Feeding the world from space - Wow this could really save all those starving people around the world ... oh no, wait, we ca already do that if we use some of the food that is completely wasted by the 10 richest countries every day. Still, this is impressive and could be a future industry ... Space Farming.
• New York to London Telescope - impressive, retro-sci-fi but completely pointless as far as I can "see"
• More Web TV brought to real TV - Haven't watched Stranger Things yet but have just book marked it and will check it out later

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The Future of iPhones, Facelift Pill, The Road, Deathrace 2000, Garbage Terminator, Inhabited Island

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 29th May Include:

• The Future of iPhones - want to know what the next generation of small, personal electronic gadgets will be? Well Intel think they know and are investing heavily in that direction
• Facelift Pill - Now here is something for everyone. The io9 team have reported on a breakthrough pill which will improve skin elasticity to make us all look 60 years younger - as long as your over 60, who wouldn't want that?
• The Road Pics - Cormac McCarthy's moody, colourless, post-apocalyptic, cannibal infested .... gee this movie wounds like fun
• Deathrace 2000 lacks points - As much as I like Jason Sratham, fast cars and explosions, Deathrace 2000 is nothing unless you can clock up points for hitting old ladies ... wasn't that the point? I agree with this review on io9
• Garbage singer in Terminator Chronicles - could this be Garbage joining Garbage .... sorry, I just lost interest in the Sarah Connor Chronicles ... let us know if you loved it and why and maybe we'll change our minds
• Russia's Inhabited Island Trailer - ooohhhhh

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Ian Fleming 100 today, Quinto on Star Trek, Cyborg Impants, Who is Spiderman?, Babylon A.D., The Other Mars Missions

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 28th May Include:

• Ian Flemings is 100 today - Although obviously not still alive. To mark his centenary a new Bond Novel by Sebastian Faulks called Devil May Care is now out
• Quinto on Star Trek - Sylar plays nice in this interview where he says they are Honouring the original Star Trek and pays homage to both Nimoy and Abrams
• Cyborg's come closer - You know we were going on about Cyborgs the other day well here is an article which shows you how close Brain implants are to regulate your brain activity. All right it isn't wetware connection to the net yet but ...... like we keep saying, every journey ......
• Who is Spiderman (next)? - So speculation is hotting up as we are pretty sure the old Maguire / Dunst combo isn't gonna be part of the next two films
• Vin Diesel's Babylon A.D. Trailer - Looks good, we are fans of the Diesel
• Which Mars Missions Failed - I know I was celebrating the Phoenix landing the other day after so many recent set backs, but I didn't know there had been quite so many Mars Failures. Despite these, we still have 6 Satellites orbiting Mars and 3 Robots scouring it's Surface not bad when you consider it's currently over 55 million kilometers away through empty space!!

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Watchman on DVD, Indy doesn't break record, 85 years of Weird Tales, Mars Hydro Vents, Jupiter Storms and Books sent to Mars

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 27th May Include:

• Watchman DVD Teasers - Zack Snyder is starting on his innovative promotion of Watchman, scheduled for March 2009, by releasing a DVD related film just as the main film hits cinemas. Warner Brothers for their part are hoping this will give their DVD sales a boost next year. DVD sales are currently dropping for the first time in the formats history and last year dropped by 3.2%. This article gives you more information on both Snyder's DVD and the state of the DVD industry. Both are worth monitoring.
• Indy misses target but remains Respectable - OK it didn't beat any records but come on $126 million isn't bad and way better than Prince Caspian hauled. Sci Fi Pool have been saying for a while that the original hype for this film couldn't be lived up to but lets not allow that to shadow the film .... I for one still can't wait.
• 85th Anniversary for Weird Tales - If you haven't read it for a while getting the 85th Anniversary Issue of this venerable magazine has got to be worth a look
• Hydrothermal vents found on Mars - This is actually from the Spirit probe not the recently landed Phoenix, so with more and more probes on Mars what else will we find?
• Jupiter Kicks up a Storm - Meanwhile down the road from Mars, Jupiter's storms are multiplying and getting worse .... could this be jealousy from all the attention Mars is getting or is there something more insidious brewing on the Gas Giant?
• Mars Books sent to Mars - This is from one of our Favorite Sci-Fi web sites The Web Site at the End of the Universe with great coverage on how Phoenix has taken a whole host of books and pictures about Mars to Mars ..... Ironic! It includes a great list of books which includes some of our personal favorites such as Zelany's A Rose for Ecclesiastes and Leigh Brackett's The Road to Sinharat (The Secret of Sinharat has recently been re-released).

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Mars Touchdown and first Pictures and Indy will almost Match Spidy 3

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 26th May Include:

• Mars Touchdown - It is great to hear about successful space missions, especially after so many recent failures and disasters. There is another god article here from New Scientist as well
• Mars First Pictures - After a successful landing and successful deployment of solar panels this the first pictures sent back by Phoenix. This one is perhaps the most impressive, but after clicking the + sign to enlarge you may think "so what" but look again and remember this is a different planet, use your imagination and imagine being there ..... its very exciting
• Mars Launch and Decent Video - This is worth watching, a fast paced video of the whole mission so far with CGI images
• Indy actually does very well in first weekend - It still has a chance to match Spiderman 3, but even if it misses that mark, personally I would be very pleased at getting close to $151 million for its 5 day opening.

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We Land on Mars Today, Life on earth found below Ocean floor, Methane Planet found and Dick Martin passes away

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 25th May Include:

• We land on Mars today - This brief article gives you the time frames for the landing, but for more background information go to this artcile. For an artist impression of what's going on click here ,and for the latest news from NASA click here. This is an historic occasion but it will be a while before we get any actual results ...... interesting or otherwise.
• Life found far beneath Ocean Floor - They have found microbes 1.6 kilometers beneath the ocean floor in bed rock. In fact they think microbes will be found up to 5 kilometers down and that 2/3rds of the planets microbial biomass may exist down there. Considering this, and our landing today on Mars is it possible we will find microbial life there? It may not be sentient, but it would be exiting, and point to a greater possibility of life elsewhere.
• Methane Planet found - Within the article above they talk about Microbes which convert Methane to energy, what are the possibilties then of this newly classified Methane planet bearing life?
• Dick Martin passes away at 86 - As a kid I used to love re-runs of Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, an Iconic 60's mad-capped comedy show which launched carrers for the likes of Goldie Hawn and Lilly Tomlin. He went on to do much more but I remember these shows for their mad comedy. It's sad to hear of his passing.

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End of the World Bacteria, New spaceship propulsion and other world protection from us, Surrogate pics, Apple to rule the World and Indy Faulters

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 24th May Include:

• Bacteria that eats Plastic - errmmm .... great for getting rid of plastic bags but let loose doesn't that mean the end 0f civilisation as we know it??
• New Spaceship Propulsion Tests Fail - Test results to for new interstellar drive to electromagnetically propel a ship have shown that it didn't work and ended in explosion ..... not very encouraging on the face of it but every journey has a first step and you just know we will get there eventually
• Do Other planets now need protection from us? - In light of us "getting there eventually" it has been suggested that now is the time to start thinking about protecting other planets from our contamination ...... even if it is a little premature if you like Sci-Fi its a great hypothetical game
• Surrogates pics and news - New Bruce Willis Film sounds and looks promising
• Apple will rule the World - or at least your home. This Article on a recent Forester Report illustrates where Apple is going, and obviously where others will follow. We here at Sci Fi Pool have long been anticipating this range of home gadgets ..... good to see someone is finally catching up with our expectations ...... now lets have a look at Augmented Reality ....
• Indy fails to meet first night expectations - Well I did say it would be difficult to live up to this much hype this early, however the proof is still in the eating so lets wait and make up our own minds .... personally I can't wait to see it

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New Terminator Trilogy, Are we Cyborgs, New Old Sci-fi books and Apple makes people que, but why?

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 23rd May Include:

• New T4 Film will start a new Trilogy - As much as I love the original film, the TV series just bored me and so did T3 so I hope this comes up with something very new and original ... Will the "Terrible Secret" behind Skynet be able to live up to this?
• Are we Cyborgs already - a Cyborg (for those who don't know) is a "an organism that has both artificial and natural systems" this is a great article on how we already have Cyborgs around today, and in fact if you wear glasses or contact lenses you could be defined as one as well
• Old Sci-fi Classics Re-issued - There are some great sci-fi books here that are being re-printed. If you haven't experienced the likes of Leigh Brackett (co-wrote The Empire Strikes Back Screen play), or Iain M. Banks then these ones are worth a read
• People Queuing up but don't know why - Sounds like the UK, but in fact it's those crazy Americans at the Apple store in NY queuing for ..... 3G I-phones .... they think! Sounds like a scene out of a Brainwashing sci-fi movie to me

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Evil Drugs, 2012 disspoints, New Flash Gordon, Virtuality looks good and free ebooks including Star Wars History

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 22nd May Include:

• Drugs that make you trusting - Once again real Science sounds more like Science Fiction and this time with a huge serving of Horror ..... as if Rohypnol wasn't scary enough
• 2012 already doesn't live up to Expectations - well mine anyway .... portals to a parallel Universe .... what happened to the real Mayan Prophecies?
• New Flash Gordon Film - I guess the last TV series and the 80's camp film hasn't put Sony off ... what faith they must have in their writers and Directors
• Virtuality first look - Like the reporter I had fears of an entire TV show based on Star Trek Holodeck stories .... but maybe there is more to it
• Secret History of Star Wars free ebook - Now if this is free is it worth a read? Well I am interested in what he has to say about how much Lucas was Influenced by Akira Kurosawa
• Talking about free ebooks I can Recommend These - Definitely worth a read even if some of the sentiment is slightly out of date

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New Highlander, Donnie Darko is Prince Of Persia, Jurassic Park IV, Iron Maiden meets Monty Python, Batman meets Terminator and more Indy reviews

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 21st May Include:

• New Highlander Movie - Loved the first one, never mind the oethrs, lets see if Summit can make one as good as the first
• Jake Gyllenhaal to be Prince of Persia - loved the game but will it make a good film?
• Jurassic Park IV - really, do we need another one?
• Iron Maiden meets Monty Python in a Chemical Wedding - ??!!! Seriously I couldn't make this stuff up
• Christian Bale to be John Connor in T4 - Cool, Batman meets Terminator
• Indiana Jones review - Haven't read this because I want to see the film and make up my own mind, but in case you want to read it its here

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Transformers II, Indy Fever, Human body parts we don't need, 2012 Prophecy film, Spidey 4 & 5, Clarke Awards and Ubik Film news

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 20th May Include:

• Transformers II news - I enjoyed the first one, with all its flaws as a movie, so looking forward to the next instalment
• Indy Fever goes off the scale already - Can it ever hope to live up to this kind of hype?
• 5 parts of the Human body we no longer need - And one of them is to do with the Hillocks of Hiss, if this wasn't New Scientist it would be Science Fiction
• 2012 Disaster Movie to be made - I find the Mayan Prophecies fascinating so will be looking forward to seeing if they can hold some mystery from them in this new upcoming film
• Spiderman 4 and 5 - as if 3 wasn't bad enough here they come again, but with an all new cast?
• Arthur C. Clarke Awards Coverage - this from a few days ago in The Telegraph, and they even manage not to sound patronising about Science Fiction
• Philip K. Dick's Ubik is optioned - Another Dick adaptation, will this one be any good I wonder, I am beginning to think that Hollywood just can't "get" Dick

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Prince Caspian No.1, Indiana Jones Returns again, and again, Keanu Reeves remakes Classic

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 19th May Include:

• Prince Caspian Reigns - or does it? As It knocks off Iron Man from the US No 1 spot this weekend what will the future be for this franchise as it falls way below pre-release expectations?
• Indiana Jones Returns - It sounds like it got a reasonable response in Cannes this weekend. Not over whelmed, but being the Fourth edition to this franchise (or any franchise for that matter) I would have thought this sounded like a good result
• Indiana Jones Returns Again? - Spielberg says there may be a fifth installment
• New Keanu Reeves Film The Day The Earth Stood Still - mmmhhhh another re-make and with Keanu Reeves in it ...... I won't hold my breath

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Dollhouse Trailer, Fat people cause a stir, The dawn of Urban Millennium and DARPA's great and dumb ideas

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 18th May Include:

• Joss Whedon's Dollhouse Trailer - Full trailer for your entertainment
• Fat People cause Global Warming and Higher food costs - What's really entertaining is the comments attached to this post. Also when is someone going to actually bring out the old "Belly Wheels" from 2000 AD ..... looks to me like that prescient comic knew where we were heading and that time is now.
• 2008 is Dawn of Urban Millennium - Talking about how prescient 2000 AD was this is an article showing you just how much of the old Megacities story lines have come true. And here is some very interesting interactive maps which show a range of different Human Geographical impacts on the planet
• DARPA projects of interest over past 50 years - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency the USA's military research Agency had some great ideas ..... and some really dumb ones. But how different would our world be if some of the dumb ones came to fruition instead?

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Fringe and City of Ember Trailers, Mind Reading Hats plus news on Terminator 4, Ironclad, The Fall, The Thaw and The Happening

Sci Fi Pool Highlights for 17th May Include:

• JJ Abrams Fringe Trailer - warning this link also contains spoilers as well as the trailer
• Baseball hat that reads your mind - well it's better than the Government doing it
• Terminator 4 set in Machine World - Set in our Future but in the past of some of the timelines in the other movies ...... or is that in our ..... bugger, I'm gonna have to go and watch the other three again
• IronCad from New Mythic Production Co. - Expect to hear more from Mythic in the future and with a star studded line up expect to hear more from Ironclad as well
• The Fall Pictures and news - Some pictures from this bizzare sounding film, I am looking forward to finding out more
• Val Kilmers The Thaw sounds like The Thing - or am I missing somehting?
• M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening Clip and Intro - Mmmmh Lady in the Water, Signs and The Village I thought left a lot to be desired, however Unbreakable and Sixth Sense showed touches of genius so lets see ........
• City of Ember trailer - I am looking forward to this one, release due in October .... plus it has Bill Murray in it, what more could you want

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Eleventh Hour renamed for US, Butterfly Effect 3? and Clooney looking at Goats with ESP and Gun

Sci Fi Pool Headlines for 16th May Include:

• Eleventh Hour renamed as Elemental - Was the British name for the programme not good enough?
• Third Butterfly Effect - Enjoyed the first one, didn't see the second, wonder if we really need a third? What do you think?
• Clooney in the Army, with ESP looking at Goats ! - Now that is a story line for a film .......

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Dante does MeatLoaf, More on Abram's Fringe, More Qalaxy Quest?! and Music beamed into your Head

Highlights for 15th May Include:

• Dante goes all MeatLoaf on us - Joe Dante's new film will be called Bat Out of Hell about a monster on a highjacked, midnight flight
• JJ Abrams Fringe news - More from one of Hollywoods hotest and his new TV show
• Do any of you want more Qalaxy Quest? - If Yes then you got it. Scott Lobdell is bringing out a Comic with the Further Adventures of the crew
• Music beamed right into your head - Do they not have Ipod's in Canada?

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Britain releases UFO Files, Vatican Believes in Aliens and does Will Smith's Hancock hit trouble?

Highlights for 14th May Include:

• Britain release UFO X-Files - and did they follow up on anything? So ET has been leaving messages and no-one has bothered answering any of them ....... no wonder we're alone in the Universe
• Vatican says it's OK to believe in Aliens - What a relief!!! Shame they didn't tell the UK Government earlier and they could have returned all those missed calls
• Will Smith's Hancock Hits Trouble? - Didn't they re shoot parts of I Am Legend not long before release? Maybe it's a Will thing

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More new US Sci-Fi, More Inventions born from Star Trek, More ways to play on the interent and more news about old Buck

Highlights for 13th May Include:

• More new Sci-Fi Shows - in the US at least: The Ex List, Eleventh Hour and Mentalist all picked up by CBS recently
• Star Trek Comes true again - now they have invented a Tricorder
• New Type of online gaming PMOG - If you click though you will be playing it already, no pressure!!
• Buck Rogers Leaves Sin City - Apparently Frank is not directing it ..... mmmhhh what a difference a day makes

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Witchablade is coming, Iron Man No. 1, New J.J Abrams show

Highlights for 12th May Include:

• Witchbalde Film - Top Cow's comic comes to live action big screen soon
• Iron Man still No1 - Speed Racer comes in second this weekend
• JJ Abrams "Fringe" gets the go ahead - plus more on Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse", development for "Virtuality", ABC picks up "Life on Mars" while "New Amsterdam" gets cancelled among other Hollywood tittle-tattle

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5 Real Science Sci-Fi Movies, Ray Guns for real and Ted Chiang Interview

Highlights for 11th May Include:

• 5 Sci-Fi Movies that get the Science Right - Actually I am surprised there is that many
• LIGHTer Rubber Bullets -non leathal weapons of light, sounds like Ray Guns to me
• Ted Chiang Interview - MP3 interview from StarShipSofa. If you haven't read any of his short stories it is worth checking them out. This is an free on-line example which featured in F&SF Mag.

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Buck Rogers in Sin City, Star Trek Movie, Holes that Ate the World, Star Wars Clone Wars and the Original Speed Racer

Highlights for 10th May Include:

• Buck Rogers Meets Sin City - If you suffer from lack of imagination like me and can't quite see how Frank Miller would do Buck Rogers then check this article out. Apparently its coming.
• Star Trek Movie news - Hungry for any tiny bit of info from the next installment? JJ Abrams says a (very) little in a Rolling Stone Interview, picked up and expanded here
• 2001 A Sapce Odessey is now - Out of all the films to be prescient my choice wouldn't have been this, but I guess it could have been worse - Mad Max, Blade Runner, Silent Running, Omega Man ........ I wonder what film you would really fear to be a vision of our real future?
• Star Wars Clone Wars CGI - If your like me and can't wait for August 15th then check out the trailer here - looks so cool
• The Hole that Ate the World, or at least Texas - I missed this on Wednesday but boy is this the stuff of sci-fi. Only in America huh?
• Speed Racer The Original - Who was it that said "everything that can be done has already been done"?

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Speed Racer Reviews, New Films and How Cyberpunk changed the World

Highlights for 9th May Include:

• First Reviews for Speed Racer - "Stunning Visuals" I was expecting, "Slapstick", "fun", "Funny" I was not
• Up & Coming New Films to look out for -

Banraku with Ron Pearlman

Revelation for Inferno - with James McTeigue

Pandorum - with Denis Quaid

• How CyberPunk Changed the World - or at least American Sci Fi

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B5 & Heroes, Next big Scifi Movie trend & Speed racer vrs Matrix

Highlights for today include:

• Bruce Boxleitner to join Heroes - B5 in Heroes, what more could you want


• Humans Are Evil Colonists - the next trend in Sci-Fi Movies


• Can Speed Racer measure up to The Matrix - mmmmhhhh reviews pending

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