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science fiction
Life-Size Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot: Man Builds Droid That Punches You
By Ben Muessig - AOL NewsScience fiction writers have long imagined the day when robots will rise up and attack humans. It's safe to say that none of them pictured it looking anything like this. An Australian draftsman has constructed a robotic boxing buddy, called Punching Pro, that uses two arms powered by 12-volt windshield-wiper motors to throw blows at its human sparring partners. "This is an automated sparring apparatus that is heaps of fun; it looks and feels like you're challenging a real fighter," Punching Pro inventor Kris Tressider wrote on his website. Even though the robot is made from parts that ...
The Force Is Strong: One in Five Brits Think Light Sabers Exist
By Lee Speigel - AOL NewsLight sabers from "Star Wars," time travel and hover boards from "Back to the Future." Many people in the U.K. believe all these things from science fiction and fantasy are, in fact, reality. The results of a survey that opened National Science and Engineering Week in Britain last week reveal a fine line between science and fiction in the public's eye. Alamy Teleportation certainly exists in the movies, but what about real life? Many British adults don't know. Here's what the survey reveals, according to Birmingham Science City, which created it. Note that in all cases, the ...
Capt. Kirk Wakes Up Space Shuttle Discovery Crew [VIDEO]
By Lee Speigel - AOL NewsIt was a perfect blending of science fact and fiction. As the crew of the space shuttle Discovery wiped the dust from their eyes Monday morning, preparing to undock from the International Space Station, they were awakened by a special message from Capt. James T. Kirk, aka William Shatner. With the original 1960s "Star Trek" television series theme song -- written by Alexander Courage -- playing in the background, beginning with Shatner's classic voice-over of "Space, the final frontier ..." it cut to a new message provided by the 79-year-old actor, who reprised his role as the legendary ...
Internet for Robots: It's Not Skynet, It's RoboEarth
By Beau Brendler - AOL NewsIt's one of science fiction's most familiar ideas: computers that can, when hooked up to other computers, become self-aware and exhibit human characteristics. The results are often sinister, as the machines perceive humanity as a threat and defend themselves to the death. "Star Trek" had its Ultimate Computer, among many others; "2001: A Space Odyssey" had HAL 9000. Heroes of the "Terminator" films fought against Skynet, a group of networked military computers that triggered a nuclear holocaust, then aggressively tried to put what was left of humanity out with the trash. Now RoboEarth -- "a ...
'Born This Way' Music Video Explained: Decoding Lady Gaga
By Torie Bosch - AOL NewsLady Gaga is not known for her restraint, and the new video for her single "Born This Way" is no exception. Watch it, below. "The manifesto of Mother Monster?" What's going on in this seven-minute video? Here's what Surge Desk has uncovered. In the space age-y opening voice-over, Lady Gaga intones, "On GOAT, a government owned alien territory in space, a birth of magnificent and magical proportions took place. But the birth was not finite. It was infinite." We see kaleidoscope images -- just on the tasteful side of safe for work -- showing birth. Gaga, we learned, gave birth to a good ...
Debbie Gibson and Tiffany Fist-Fight in 'Mega Python vs Gatoroid'
By Monica Garske - AOL NewsIn the 1980s, former teen sensations Debbie Gibson and Tiffany constantly battled each other on the pop charts. Now, as grown women, the singers are rehashing their rivalry by flinging fists at each other's faces -- on television, that is. Calm down. It's not for some weird episode of "The Jerry Springer Show" or another one of those strange celebrity boxing matches. This girl fight is coming to fans courtesy of a ridiculously campy made-for-TV movie. On Jan. 29, at exactly 9 p.m., the '80s pop princesses will reunite on the small screen for "Mega Python Vs. Gatoroid," an original action ...
NASA Calls '2012' Most Flawed Sci-Fi Film Ever
By Lee Speigel - AOL NewsThe 2009 film "2012" depicted an ultimate end-of-the-world scenario based on an ancient Mayan calendar that ends on Dec. 21, 2012. But does NASA believe the film accurately portrays something that will really happen? Absolutely not. In fact, NASA scientists say the doomsday "2012" is the most ridiculous sci-fi film ever. "The filmmakers took advantage of public worries about the so-called end of the world as apparently predicted by the Mayans of Central America," Donald Yeomans told The Australian. Sony Pictures/Everett Collection Doomsday befalls Earth in the 2009 film "2012," ...
Anne Francis, 'Forbidden Planet,' 'Honey West' Actress, Dead at 80 [VIDEOS]
By Torie Bosch - AOL NewsActress Anne Francis, best known for her sexy roles in the 1956 sci-fi film "Forbidden Planet" and the 1960s TV series "Honey West," has died at the age of 80 following a battle with cancer. Francis got her start in showbiz at an early age, beginning as a child model at the age of 5, in the midst of the Great Depression. Soon after, she moved into radio and Broadway before heading to Hollywood for a one-year contract with MGM. Her first credited big-screen role came in the 1948 Mickey Rooney musical "Summer Holiday." It was a good time for a teenager to be signed with MGM: When she wasn't ...
Dr. Who Sonic Screwdriver Close to Reality
By Lee Speigel - AOL News
(Dec. 7) -- A real sonic screwdriver -- like the one used by the popular British science fiction character Dr. Who -- may soon become reality. In the BBC-produced television series -- recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest-running science fiction TV show on Earth -- the eccentric Dr. Who uses a multi-tasking sonic screwdriver to help him in his many time-traveling adventures. The fictional device is so popular that the BBC even offers a facsimile of it as a gift item. Mary Evans / Ronald Grant / Everett Collection Doctor Who, as played by David Tennant in 2008, with his sonic ...
To Boldly Go to New Worlds, NASA Announces '100-Year Starship'
By Lee Speigel - AOL News
(Oct. 22) -- It might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but a NASA official says that "within a few years" scientists will unveil a prototype for a spaceship capable of taking earthlings to other worlds. Speaking at a Long Now Foundation conference in San Francisco over the weekend, Simon Worden, center director at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, said a project is under way called the "Hundred Year Starship." As reported by news.com.au, the project is, so far, a joint venture between NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, and looks to utilize new ...
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