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Universal Translator
A universal translator is a device common to many science fiction works, especially on television. First described in Murray Leinster's 1945 novella " First Contact", the translator's purpose is to offer an instant translation of any language. As a convention, it is used to remove the problem of translating between alien languages when it is not vital to the plot. Especially in science fiction television, translating a new language in every episode when a new species is encountered would consume time normally allotted for plot development and would potentially become repetitive to the point of annoyance. Occasionally, intelligent alien races are portrayed as being able to extrapolate the rules of English from little speech and rapidly become fluent in it, making the translator unnecessary. While a ''universal'' translator seems unlikely, scientists continue to work towards similar real-world technologies involving small numbers of known languages. General As a rule, a universal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel universes, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the singularity. Science fiction predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb, robots, and borazon, whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is also related to fantasy, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many subgenres. Its exact definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Science fiction, in literature, film, television, and other media, has beco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TARDIS
The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior appearance mimics a police box, an obsolete type of telephone kiosk that was once commonly seen on streets in Britain. Paradoxically, its interior is shown as being much larger than its exterior, commonly described as being "bigger on the inside". Due to the significance of ''Doctor Who'' in popular British culture, the shape of the police box is now more strongly associated with the TARDIS than its real-world inspiration. The name and design of the TARDIS is a registered trademark of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), despite the fact that the design was originally created by the Metropolitan Police Service. Name TARDIS is an acronym of "Time And Relative Dimension(s) in Space". The word "Dimension" is alternatively rendered in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neuromancer
''Neuromancer'' is a 1984 science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson. Considered one of the earliest and best-known works in the cyberpunk genre, it is the only novel to win the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It was Gibson's debut novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy. Set in the future, the novel follows Henry Case, a washed-up hacker hired for one last job, which brings him in contact with a powerful artificial intelligence. Background Before ''Neuromancer'', Gibson had written several short stories for US science fiction periodicals—mostly noir countercultural narratives concerning low-life protagonists in near-future encounters with cyberspace. The themes he developed in this early short fiction, the Sprawl setting of "Burning Chrome" (1982), and the character of Molly Millions from "Johnny Mnemonic" (1981) laid the foundations for the novel. John Carpenter's ''Escape from New York'' (1981) influenced the novel; Gi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Gibson
William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his early works were noir, near-future stories that explored the effects of technology, cybernetics, and computer networks on humans—a "combination of lowlife and high tech"—and helped to create an iconography for the information age before the ubiquity of the Internet in the 1990s. Gibson coined the term " cyberspace" for "widespread, interconnected digital technology" in his short story "Burning Chrome" (1982), and later popularized the concept in his acclaimed debut novel ''Neuromancer'' (1984). These early works of Gibson's have been credited with "renovating" science fiction literature in the 1980s. After expanding on the story in ''Neuromancer'' with two more novels (''Count Zero'' in 1986, and ''Mona Lisa Overdrive'' in 1988), th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Men In Black (1997 Film)
''Men in Black'' (stylized as ''MIB: Men in Black'') is a 1997 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, produced by Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald and written by Ed Solomon. Loosely based on the Marvel comic book series of a similar name created by Lowell Cunningham and Sandy Carruthers, the film stars Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as two agents of a secret organization called the Men in Black, who supervise extraterrestrial lifeforms who live on Earth and hide their existence from ordinary humans. The film featured the creature effects and makeup of Rick Baker and visual effects by Industrial Light & Magic. The film was released in the United States on July 2, 1997, by Columbia Pictures, and grossed over $589.3 million worldwide against a $90 million budget, becoming the year's third highest-grossing film. It received positive reviews, with critics praising its script, set pieces, and the performances of Jones and Smith. The f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agent K
Agent K (usually called Kay), born Kevin Brown, is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the ''Men in Black'' franchise (the other being Agent J). Kay is portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones in the three films, with Josh Brolin portraying his younger self in the third film, and voiced by Ed O'Ross and Gregg Berger in the animated series. The film's trading card series and ''Men in Black: The Game'' give K's full name as Kevin Cunningham, a nod to Lowell Cunningham, the creator of the comic. Fictional character biography Early life K (born Kevin Brown) was one of the people who made first contact with the first aliens to arrive on Earth, and became one of the founding members of the Men In Black. He said he was 29 in 1969, placing his year of birth as 1940. On July 16, 1969, K saved the world from invasion by attaching the ArcNet, a planetary shield, to the Apollo 11 rocket so that it would be deployed in space. In the process, K severed the left arm of the Boglo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Men In Black (franchise)
''Men in Black'' is a semi- comic science fiction media franchise that originated with the Malibu/ Marvel comic book of the same name created by American author Lowell Cunningham. The franchise focuses on the fictional and namesake non-governmental organization which monitors and regulates paranormal and alien activity on Earth while preventing civilians from finding out about it. The most notable agents within the organization are Jay, Kay, and Zed. The franchise has been adapted into other media including a series of four films, an animated television series, video games, and a theme park attraction. Premise The Men in Black organization The Men in Black as shown in the movies is a secret organization devoted to policing and monitoring extraterrestrial activity on Earth. The Men in Black, founded in the U.S. in the mid-1950s, began as a small and poorly funded government organization devoted to making contact with extraterrestrial life known as the Baltians. They were init ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (sometimes referred to as ''HG2G'', ''HHGTTG'', ''H2G2'', or ''tHGttG'') is a comic science fiction, comedy science fiction franchise created by Douglas Adams. Originally The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), a 1978 radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it was later adapted to other formats, including novels, stage shows, comic books, a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series), 1981 TV series, a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (video game), 1984 text-based computer game, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film), 2005 feature film. ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' has become an international multi-media phenomenon; the novels are the most widely distributed, having been translated into more than 30 languages by 2005. The first novel, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (novel), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (1979), has been ranked fourth on the BBC’s The Big Read poll. The sixth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Races In Farscape
The television series ''Farscape'' features an extensive cast of characters created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. The series is set aboard a living spacecraft named Moya of the Leviathan race. The physical, racial and species-specific cultural characteristics, as well as underlying mythological/sociological similarities' and differences of the alien races portrayed in ''Farscape'' were conceptualised and created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Main characters John Crichton John Robert Crichton, Jr. , played by Ben Browder, is an International Aeronautics and Space Administration (most commonly referred to on the show as IASA) astronaut who, in the opening few minutes of the pilot episode, is accidentally catapulted through a wormhole across the universe, thus; setting the scene for the show as a whole. As the only regularly appearing human on the show, he is the main focus and is the main character as he narrates the weekly credits and is the only character to appear in every episode. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moya (Farscape)
The television series '' Farscape'' features an extensive cast of characters created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. The series is set aboard a living spacecraft named Moya of the Leviathan race. The physical, racial and species-specific cultural characteristics, as well as underlying mythological/sociological similarities' and differences of the alien races portrayed in ''Farscape'' were conceptualised and created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Main characters John Crichton John Robert Crichton, Jr. , played by Ben Browder, is an International Aeronautics and Space Administration (most commonly referred to on the show as IASA) astronaut who, in the opening few minutes of the pilot episode, is accidentally catapulted through a wormhole across the universe, thus; setting the scene for the show as a whole. As the only regularly appearing human on the show, he is the main focus and is the main character as he narrates the weekly credits and is the only character to appear in every episode. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farscape
''Farscape'' is an Australian-American science fiction television series, produced originally for the Nine Network. It premiered in the US on Sci-Fi Channel's SciFi Friday, 19 March 1999, at 8:00 pm EST as their anchor series. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment. The Jim Henson Company was responsible for the various alien make-up and prosthetics, and two regular characters (the animatronic puppets Rygel and Pilot) are entirely Creature Shop creations. Although the series was planned for five seasons, it was abruptly cancelled after production had ended on its fourth season, ending the series on a cliffhanger. Co-producer Brian Henson later secured the rights to ''Farscape'', paving the way for a three-hour miniseries to wrap up the cliffhanger, titled '' Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars'', which Henson directed. In 2007, it was announced that the creator was returning for a web-series but production has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fires Of Pompeii
"The Fires of Pompeii" is the second episode of the fourth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was broadcast on BBC One on 12 April 2008. Set shortly before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, this episode depicts alien time traveller the Doctor (David Tennant) and his new companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) on a trip to Pompeii, where they uncover an alien invasion. Their clashing worldviews present an ethical dilemma for the Doctor. The episode was filmed in Rome's Cinecittà studios, and was the first time the ''Doctor Who'' production team took its cast abroad for filming since its revival. The production of the episode was impeded by a fire near the sets several weeks before filming and by problems for the production team crossing into Europe. Critics' opinions regarding the episode were generally mixed. The premise of the episode—the moral dilemma the Doctor faces, and Donna's insistence that he save a family from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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