'Star Wars' robots wouldn't survive the real world

Beloved "Star Wars" robots wouldn't fare too well in the real-life desert, according to an analysis in the journal Science Robotics - but they may be onto something with their iconic beeping communication. The new monthly column by Texas A&M University roboticist Robin Murphy took as its first subject the beloved droids R2-D2 and BB-8, rolling robots that play a major role in "Star Wars."

The ambitious project Hasbro is undertaking for Star Wars fans

Throughout its franchise history, the Star Wars saga has innovated the way that movie tie-in products are created and marketed. But at the heart of all of those efforts has always been one important and overriding factor: fan satisfaction. It's what's motivated Hasbro to create their new HasLab initiative, a platform with the die-hard collector in mind.
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Willis' macabre and amusing science fiction classic

How would we interact with those from the distant past?

By Yang Guo

How might one interact with people from the distant past if one were allowed to time travel there? This was the question posed by Connie Willis in her science fiction novel, The Doomsday Book. The novel is set in Oxford University, at around Christmas time, 2053.

The emperor summons Darth Vader and the grand admiral in this Thrawn: Alliances excerpt - exclusive

Thrawn and Vader must join forces -- even if they don't want to. The Emperor's dark-side enforcer and one of his greatest military commanders: not a bad bad-guy tag team.

Thrawn: Alliances, Timothy Zahn's highly-anticipated follow-up to Thrawn, arrives July 24, 2018, and finds Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Vader joining forces for a secret mission. In StarWars.com's exclusive expert below, we find out just a little bit more about this mission - including its surprising location - and learn that this alliance may not be an easy one.

The Force is strong with Gibraltar's Skywalk

Mark Hamill, the actor who plays Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series, has opened the Skywalk at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar.

Standing 340 metres directly above sea level, the Skywalk is higher than the tallest point of London's Shard. Gibraltar's Skywalk offers breath-taking 360 degree views spanning three countries and two continents.
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Star Wars open-world game in the works at EA, according to Job Listing

Electronic Arts is at work on a new open-world Star Wars game, if a newly discovered job opening is any indication. Although the publisher has shared little information about what to expect from the rebooted version of Visceral's game following the studio's closure, we may now have a clue as to what form it will take.

The job listing in question was recently published on EA's jobs site. It's for the position of lead online engineer in Burnaby, at EA's Vancouver studio, and it makes no attempt to hide what applicants will be working on. The opening sentence reads, "Lead a team to deliver Online features for a Star Wars Open World project."

Daredevil' Season 3 adds Jay Ali to the cast

With the third season of Netflix's 'Daredevil' approaching, we've just learned that they've added Jay Ali ('The Fosters,' 'Bloomers') to the cast. In the show, he is set to portray Rahul "Ray" Nadeem who is "an honest, but ambitious FBI agent willing to go to any length for his family."

For those who need to know everything about a character in advance, there aren't any known ones that go by this name in the comics.

Disney yanks rumoured 'Last Jedi' royal stormtrooper clip

Weren't they a little tall to be stormtroopers?

British princes William and Harry played Imperial stormtroopers in a small scene in "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," but their battle royal never came to our theatres.

John Boyega, who plays Finn, revealed the royal roles back in November, but in a crowning bummer of a move, later said the princes' scene was cut.

The tech entrepreneur turning science fiction into reality teaches his kids 3 lessons to help them dream big

Not many people can say that they've made a career of fulfilling their childhood dreams, but Peter Diamandis likes to see his 9-year-old self as the driving force in his life.

Diamandis is a serial entrepreneur who's founded the XPRIZE entrepreneur competition series, the tech research center Singularity University, and the life-extension company Human Longevity, Inc. - all companies essentially making science fiction reality.

Twelve sci-fi rules for life

Like so many other scribes, I have been inspired by psychologist Jordan Peterson's fascinating book to sketch my 12 rules of life. But mine are different, because each is drawn from canonical science fiction. Why? Maybe because this is the literature on which I grew up, or maybe because I have never lost the taste for it. Or maybe because the sci-fi canon really does have a lot to teach about the well-lived life. Here, then, are my 12 rules. I cannot pretend that I always follow them, but I certainly always try.

Paul Di Filippo reviews Bridges to Science Fiction and Fantasy: outstanding essays from the J. Lloyd Eaton conferences

Despite the flourishing of courses devoted to fantastika in the groves of academia, its seems to me that actually, in any given year, very few scholarly volumes emerge.

Most of the non-fiction books-the candidates you see on the awards ballots, whether dedicated to contemporaneously studying or historically researching the genre-are produced by folks whose primary concern is something other than pure scholarship.

Cryonics - still between science and science fiction

Walking over to the law office of Oh & Son through the bustling streets of downtown Seoul, CEO Han Hyeong-tae of Human High Tech casually explained how he brought KrioRus, a cryonics service provider, to Korea. Initial contracts with the Russian company seemed to be no less casual.

"During the talks, I didn't get to see them in person, but we talked online. We signed a five-year contract in November," Han said. "And we launched the service in Korea on Feb. 1."

The daring Strugatsky brothers, practitioners of outwardly Soviet, covertly Jewish science fiction

Idolised by their Soviet readers, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are beginning to find increasing numbers of readers in America.

Deified by their Soviet readers from the 1960s on, the Strugatsky brothers-Arkady (1925-1991) and his younger sibling Boris (1933-2012) were not only the most popular and prolific Russian writers of science fiction, a highly respected genre in post-Stalinist Soviet culture, but its most daring practitioners.

Star Wars firm Lucasfilm must pay 'failed' Darth Vader film damages

A film-maker who sued Stars Wars producers Lucasfilm for blocking plans to make a film about Darth Vader has won almost £39,500 in damages. Marc John, 46, of Buckinghamshire, claimed he was stopped from beaming a live interview with actor David Prowse to 1,200 cinemas. He claims the film would have made about £3m, with his share worth £1.35m.

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'The Flash' Review: "Subject 9"

The focal point of the episode is Izzy Bowin. As with Ralph and the others DeVoe is after, she received her powers on that same bus incident. It just so happens that, as an aspiring musician, Izzy's powers would indeed be sound-based.

Her ability is that to control sound waves and fashion them as weapons. Barry and Ralph experience her power first-hand on their initial attempts to bring her into the fold. Used to being on her own, Izzy is strong-willed, fearless, and focused on making it big.

'Annihilation' is fiction, but the science 'isn't bullshit': Alex Garland's scientific accuracy explained

Doctor Adam Rutherford probably doesn't mean much to you, but if you're a fan of writer-director Alex Garland and his brand of challenging science-fiction, he should.

Garland's directorial efforts "Ex Machina" and "Annihilation" are two of the best reviewed sci-fi movies of the decade, and it turns out they owe a lot to Rutherford, a British geneticist who is Garland's trusted scientific adviser.

'Orphan Black' creator boards 'Snowpiercer' as showrunner

Extensive background in the sci-fi genre coupled with his brilliant work behind Orphan Black made him the perfect choice for this series. He is the best conductor to navigate the thought-provoking and delicate themes of the series while bringing this frozen, futuristic world to life."

Best science fiction and fantasy books out this month

The Feed (Morrow), Nick Clark Windo's debut, quickly establishes this is not your typical post-apocalyptic scenario. Readers are introduced to Tom and Kate, a couple living in the very near future; they are trying to establish dominance over the Feed, technology implanted in their brains that allows them instant access to social media and the Internet.

3-D printed metal antennas are no longer science fiction

The combination of so-called additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, electromagnetic simulation and mechanical design software is enabling innovative antenna and radio-frequency components. Engineers are harnessing these tools to design, fabricate, test and manufacture lightweight, highly complex antennas and radio-frequency products.