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As leader of the SNP, Alex Salmond tried to boldly go where none of his predecessors had gone before and win independence for Scotland. But the former First Minister overreached himself when he booked on to a British Airways flight as Star Trek’s James T. Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise. Mr Salmond faced embarrassment when BA flatly refused to let him on the plane at Heathrow because the name on his ticket – belonging to the character played by William Shatner in the seminal science-fiction series – didn’t match that in his passport. Only a series of frantic calls...

Researchers have successfully created a new test that could eliminate the need for needles in testing for viruses — and dramatically increase the success rate of doctors trying to diagnose an illness. It’s called ViroCap, and while the test is not ready for use in patients just yet, it has passed a big clinical trial that is paving the way for its eventual entry into the market, according to a UPI report. ViroCap supposedly can detect any virus known to man — and animals — and it could help doctors who don’t know what they’re looking for spot a virus...

MANHATTAN, Kan., - Kansas State University apologized for a marching band routine that some complained looked like male genitalia assaulting the University of Kansas mascot. University officials said the formation during halftime of Saturday's season opener against South Dakota was supposed to depict the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek engaged in battle with the University of Kansas Jayhawk, but some social media users complained the Enterprise shape looked more like a set of male genitals. "We apologize for anyone offended by our halftime performance depicting the starship enterprise and the Jayhawk mascot," a message on the marching band's official Twitter...

Happy 49th Birthday, Star Trek 49 years ago today, “Star Trek” premiered on NBC with its first episode “The Man Trap” at 8:30PM on September 8, 1966. Following two pilot episodes, the series — created by Gene Roddenberry — would go on to run for three seasons, spur thirteen feature films and change the face of television forever.

"To boldly go where no man has gone before..."  So the opening narration claims, and since it debuted in 1965 [sic], Star Trek became the epitome of optimistic futurism.  What began as a cult show--and a failed one at that--became a cultural touchstone, and quite likely the most influential television show in history, as well as a long running series of films.  Even Americans who have never seen an episode or film know of the pensive Mr. Spock, the transporter, the alien Klingons and the famous warp speed.  As the fiftieth anniversary celebration of the beloved franchise approaches though, Star...

A stunning new player-made video highlighting the visual beauty and wonder of this immense, sprawling and player-driven universe. Be sure to watch full screen and in HD 1080P. What many EVE players themselves overlook is just how visually compelling EVE is. All you have to do is stop and take a look around. All the while dodging incoming fire, that is. Heh. Just kidding. Or maybe not.

A little sci-fi tonight. Cliff Robertson stars as Charley Gordon, a good-natured but mentally impaired individual whose efforts to improve himself always seem to go nowhere and often leave him the butt of some very cruel jokes. Offered the chance to be part of an medical experiment that promises to dramatically increase his intelligence, Charly hopes to find salvation from his woes and a better life. Nothing is ever quite so simple, though... Based on the novel "Flowers For Algernon."

A time traveler from the future offers a history lesson on the "Long War" with Islam that he is still fighting.

2015 Hugo Awards Presented at: Sasquan, Spokane, Washington, USA, August 22, 2015Hosts: David Gerrold and Tananarive DueBase design: Matthew DockreyAwards Administration: John Lorentz, Ruth Sachter, Linda Deneroff, Ron Oakes, Dave McCarty and Glenn Glazer

One day 3D printers will be able to churn out working electronics and fully-functional machines, instead of just plastic parts. And that day is now slightly closer with MIT CSAIL’s MultiFab 3D printer that can use ten different materials to build working devices in a single print run. For 3D printers to fully realize their Star Trek ‘replicator’ potential they can’t just be one part of the manufacturing process, they need to do it all. The holy grail of 3D printing is to one day let anyone recreate any device with a simple button press. We want to be able...

... I know what it's like to love an author despite his or her controversial statements about real-life political issues. And I also feel that this year's Hugo slate is an unmitigated outrage that has serious implications for the future of speculative fiction. Next week, on Aug. 22, voters will decide if these awards are still about celebrating excellent writing and innovative ideas, or if they are just another blood-drenched battleground in the conflict between white male traditionalists and everyone else. For those who don't follow the genre-fiction awards circuit, here's what's going on. A shifting contingent of science fiction...

Science fiction and fantasy offer a rich legacy of great books--but that abundant pile of reading material can also be daunting. So sometimes, it's easier to fake it. We asked some of our favorite writers, and they told us the 10 books that everyone pretends to have read. And why you should actually read them. From Asimov to Pynchon, science fiction contains some fantastic, ambitious works of genre fiction. But a lot of us get overwhelmed. And it's not that hard to fake a first-hand knowledge of these books, because they're everywhere, and we've heard people talk about them so...

From the whiz-bang and cheesy to the far-out and prematurely cancelled, sci-fi and TV have had a nice run. We locked ourselves in the basement with several milk crates of VHS tapes, laser discs, and back issues of Starlog to come up with the top 50 science-fiction television shows.

Ahmed Best, the actor who played the first computer generated character in the franchise, revealed that Michael Jackson approached director George Lucas in hopes of taking on the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace role with the help of prosthetics and makeup similar to that of his "Thriller" video. After meeting Jackson backstage at a concert with Lucas and co-star Natalie Portman, Best said, "George introduced me as 'Jar Jar' and I was like, 'That's kind of weird.' Michael was like, 'Oh. OK.' I thought, 'What is going on?'" ... Although it's up to speculation whether or not Jackson's...

'Being a fan of Star Trek has given me a life', claims 69-year-old Steve Doman. The devoted trekkie has spent 14 years transforming his remote Colorado cabin into a Star Trek shrine complete with Klingon and Federation-themed rooms. Steve has spent a staggering $30,000 on the renovation project - which started as a winter hobby - and says there is still plenty of work to do.

OK the time has arrived. Art Bell returns to American radio in two hours. Tonight.

The first teaser for the new "X-Files" reboot offers a quick glimpse at the reboot along with some nostalgia and the assertion that "the truth is in there." While we've seen a few behind-the-scenes shots from the set of the forthcoming "X-Files" reboot, heard about Gillian Anderson's challenge in "waking up" Scully and even seen David Duchovny tear up over the "fantastic script," we haven't seen much in the way of a preview of the six-episode series due to air on the Fox network in January. Tuesday, with the release of the first official teaser for the show, that doesn't...

Shortly after completing their first movie, in 2004, Kerry and Kevin Conran received an invitation from George Lucas. The Star Wars mastermind would be hosting a summit at Skywalker Ranch, his production facility-cum-small town in San Francisco, gathering some of the most forward-thinking people in the movie business to discuss the future of film. James Cameron was there, as were Robert Zemeckis and Brad Bird. The brothers were newcomers, but that day they were treated as peers; each of their fellow directors told the Conrans how impressed they were with what they’d accomplished. Their work, they were told, was way...

We're exclusively premiering the new trailer for Syfy's miniseries "Childhood’s End," which just debuted at Comic-Con on Saturday morning. Get a good look at what Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi novel will look like in real life, right now. Set in a world that's already been conquered by aliens, this trailer actually shows the big "first contact" moment. "There’s no need to be afraid," says the alien voiceover. "We've come to help mankind. We are not conquerors."

Tonight's second feature is a classic bit of dark science fiction from the 1970s. Astronaut and pilot Tony Cellini (Gianni Garko) is in the throes of what most people on Moonbase Alpha believe is a mental breakdown. The only survivor of a disastrous mission that wrecked his career some years before, Cellini is once again claiming the existence of an impossible alien creature, one that Cellini is obsessed with destroying...