extraterrestrial
Speculation, theory, UFOs and Aliens. Are we alone in this universe or is there life outside Earth?
A Primer for Dark System
Astronomy tells us that planets orbit stars, stars hang out in clusters and these clusters orbit the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy, and the galaxy is zooming away from some center, some big bang. These same astronomers say that, at times, planets are kicked out of their family systems to travel the dark alone. What if some of these outcasts formed their own system? These dark systems would be near impossible to detect with our current tech, but we couldn’t travel there anyway…
By daniel morris9 years ago in Futurism
A Primer for Symbiote
One of the most powerful, technologically and biologically advanced super weapons has been stolen from a secure research station and tracked to a third rate, backwater world at the edge of explored space overrun by bloodthirsty savages. If this news were to escape to the general public, the repercussions could be just as disastrous as the enemy getting a hold of the weapon. A select group of specially trained elite is chosen to find and return the weapon, before it’s too late. The fate of the galaxy, its very future, rests squarely at the feet of these five teachers, what could go wrong?
By daniel morris9 years ago in Futurism
Alex The Inventor-Chapter 12
Read Chapters 1 - 11 at: Deep Sky Stories Chapter 12 (Part 1) - Belated Truth and Secret Nobility It was an educational time for Alex during the half hour he spent in Rainah's, "Resting Room", as she liked to call it. It was also a time for healing. Miss Vee gently immersed Alex's burned hands in a basin filled with a cool, healing gel compound. After only a few minutes soaking in the gel, Alex withdrew his hands to discover that the throbbing pain had subsided considerably. Bandages were then wrapped around each hand to prevent infection.After the shock and strangeness wore off, seeing Rainah put her prosthetic legs on was quite fascinating. As Miss Vee put it, "Any challenge or hardship in life can be overcome with a determined mind and a little ingenuity."The legs were very interesting because they not only performed perfectly as replacements for the ones that were lost during her hibernation, they also provided Rainah with several distinct advantages. The first and most obvious was that she could literally run the legs off anybody and barely break a sweat. The legs, which had ‘Fluid-Motion High-Speed Servo-Motors’, were powered by high-powered, rechargeable ‘Tritium-Cell’ Batteries, and had ‘Endo-Nerve Ganglia’ sensors which amplified her normal nervous system's electrical impulses.The resulting normalized feedback from her brain mirrored all the proper movements and reactions that any biological legs would have. But because of the nerve amplification and the extreme power output that Tritium-Cell batteries allowed, short bursts of higher than normal strength and speed were possible. But there was more, much more than Miss Vee or John Faraway had expected when they gave Rainah new life with the new legs. Because of the thinner atmosphere on Mars, Rainah's people not only adapted to it, they also learned telepathy because of it. This eliminated the need to waste precious energy (and breath) talking. Because of the two-way biofeedback connection with her nervous system, the new artificial nerves amplified not only Rainah's physical but also her telepathic abilities. A mind could not just be spoken to, she could also read it like a book.Under ideal conditions, such as a mental exercise (like a geography test) Rainah could even find and mentally pull the appropriate memories to the forefront of a person's mind. It was like opening a facet wide and letting the information spill out of the person so fast, that they would have no comprehension of what was happening until it was finished.The first time it happened, Miss Vee was in her kitchen, trying to remember an old cookie recipe that her mother had taught her years ago. She wanted to make enough for both Rainah and Alex, since she was caring for both of them at that time. Before she knew what was happening, ten minutes had elapsed and a fresh batch of oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies was baking in the oven. Miss Vee was completely befuddled and Rainah had a secretive, mischievous grin on her face. The legs had one more distinction: they grew in perfect unison with Rainah‘s natural growth.With the aid of ‘Omni-Balanced Molecular Silicate Growth Plastics’ the bionic legs constantly mirrored their own growth with Rainah's. They were, for all purposes and appearances, her legs. The only time she had to take them off was during the night or any time she needed some rest in her little room. Her prosthetics were then placed into a specially designed recharging container attached to her bed. All Rainah had to do was shuffle over, drop down onto them and then walk away after opening the small container doors.During their time together, the mood in the little Resting Room had soon changed to an upbeat and happier one. And so, after Rainah had had a short rest to allow her prosthetic legs to recharge, Miss Vee called a brief but serious meeting with both of them. During that time, she discussed important matters with Rainah about the Biosphere. A particular issue they focused on regarded the routine operations in the habitat and how well each successive crop was growing in the artificial Martian environment over the past twelve years.Soon, however, the topic began to shift back to a familiar worry that was always on their minds: how much longer they could remain hidden from the Others. Alex soon was forced to realize that there very little time left at all. But out from that ominous train of discussion flowed another topic from Rainah which immediately captured his attention and left him wanting to know much more. Yet, it was how she said it, how she turned to the subject, as though on cue from previously scripted lines that gave Alex his first hint that all was not quite as it should be.
By G.F. Brynn9 years ago in Futurism
Joint NASA/ESA Mission Proposed to Search for Life on Europa
Europa is one of the most fascinating places in the Solar System, and is considered to be at or near the top of the list of worlds to search for possible evidence of life. Beneath its outer ice crust lies a deep and dark salty ocean, thought to be quite to Earth's own oceans. Could that ocean be inhabited, even if just by microbes? Scientists want to know, and now a new proposal calls for a joint orbiter/lander mission between NASA and ESA (European Space Agency), to try to answer that question.
By Paul Scott Anderson9 years ago in Futurism
The Star King
The Star King The Star King is a Sci-Fi drama about the life of King Akhenaton, the most unusual king in Egyptian history who mysteriously appeared in 1353 B.C. and took the throne in Egypt. This film will take the viewer into an alternate history of Ancient Egypt- not what is found in our history books. Something very strange happened in the 18th dynasty and Akhenaton and his Queen Nefertiti virtually disappeared from history until 1920 when the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti was discovered under a pile of rubble.King Akhenaton suddenly appeared out of nowhere and took over the throne in 1353 B.C. teaching a single religion with only one god. He abolished slavery, abolished human sacrifices; He even gave Nefertiti, unlike other queens, equal respect and authority as the Pharaoh. They ruled together as equals. He was over 7 feet tall, had an elongated skull, very wide hips and he walked around naked for everyone to see his shockingly disfigured appearance. His enemies were the dark priests of Amen who wanted Egypt to return to polytheism, human sacrifices to their god and to bring back slavery. Akhenaton came in and stopped them. This was the first time in history that a Pharaoh ruled side by side with his Queen and attempted to uplift humanity from violence and war in an attempt to lead the people out of corruption and into a better future. Why his entire family all displayed the strange elongated skull is still unknown. What motivated his religious revolutions are questions not yet answered. Scholars have tried to explain what happened, and most of them disagree with each other. Some people believe he came from the stars to enlighten the people during dark times. The Star King is a metaphysical adventure that will take you back in time to re-examine one of the strangest stories in history.
By Michael Perlin9 years ago in Futurism
Alex The Inventor-Chapter 11 (Pt.2)
Read Chapters 1 - 11 at Deep Sky Stories Chapter 11 (Part 2) - Rainah's Pain... Jade greeted the two of them as they entered. She cast them a sharp, warning look and swished her long Dragon-tail when she saw Alex. Jade took longer than most creatures to warm up to strangers of any sort; especially strangers who had just befriended her Mistress. She gave Alex a haughty, dismissive look then turned, giving him a deliberate bump with her club-like tail, and disappeared round a sharp corner in the otherwise round room.The first impression Alex had was of being inside a large, dimly lit, cozy red beach ball. The walls and ceiling curved around and overhead as one continuous surface, even the floor stayed flat for only a fraction of its area before it too curved upward to blend in with the encircling wall. The whole effect was like being inside a large, smooth pudding-bubble room and Alex relaxed a little, feeling that he was being protected from the dangers of the outside world for a while.Soft, dim red lights glowed down from the small dome overhead, bathing everyone in a fuzzy red hue. Everything was of a smooth-edged design and even the walls had contoured padding to prevent injury to the occupants of the sphere.In the center of the room, about twenty feet away from the doorway stood an odd pillar or pipe, running from floor to ceiling and coiled around it were two sets of graceful spirals, one within the twist of the other. The spirals came down from the ceiling like an upside-down cone, with the wide base gradually tapering down to a point only a few feet above the floor. The inner spiral merged with the pipe and the outer spiral slid into a hole in the floor just beside the pipe.
By G.F. Brynn9 years ago in Futurism
Contact
First contact could have gone better. The beings visiting Earth had learned how to leave behind their physical bodies so long ago that the idea of an awakened mind being tethered to meat was at best quaint, and frankly, a little disgusting to them. How could one explore infinite space, or spend the required centuries on the really worthwhile philosophical questions, when still stuck in all that biomass? Still, they were impressed with the progress, and more importantly the potential, they saw in humanity. The generational march forward of knowledge and thought was a revelation to creatures that had decoupled from the freight engine of biological evolution so long ago. They reasoned that once these Earthlings had been taught how to leave their husks behind, the addition of their billions to galactic exploration would inject these efforts with a new energy . It was so rare for a species to make the leap to true sentience, let alone maintain it. So many self-destructive habits inevitably accompanied reaching this state while still trapped in physical form. Only one species in a million could do it. The beings were going to help humanity leave their millennia of conflict behind, bring a new utopia, and make the galaxy a richer place. If only they could make contact . . .
By Byondhelp Photography9 years ago in Futurism
Nearby 'Super-Earth' Exoplanet May Be Best Place Yet to Search for Alien Life
Just recently, an exo-planetary system called TRAPPIST-1, with seven known planets close in size to Earth, was announced by astronomers. Some of those planets are in the star's habitable zone, meaning that they could potentially be habitable for some kind of life. Then, another Earth-sized world was found orbiting the star GJ 1132b, and may have water and methane in its atmosphere. Now, another similar planet has been found orbiting another nearby star. It is also close in size to Earth and resides in the star's habitable zone. According to scientists, it is another prime candidate in the search for alien life and may even be the best one yet.
By Paul Scott Anderson9 years ago in Futurism
