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Television

The Clone Wars: Chapter 1

Clone WarsBridging the gap between Star Wars Episode II and Episode III, Cartoon Network premieres the first three-minute mini-episode of The Clone Wars, with character design and direction by animator Genndy Tartakovsky. Executed in a cel-animation style (rather than the full CGI of the later Clone Wars series), the shorts chronicle the battles between the Republic Clone Army and the Jedi vs. the Droid forces of the Separatists.

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Movies Pathfinder Science & Technology Star Wars Uncrewed Spaceflight

2003 Robot Hall Of Fame inductees

R2-D2SojournerThe first four inductees – two real and two fictional – are inducted into the Robot Hall Of Fame created by Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science.

  1. Unimate (1961, General Motors) – the first robotic arm used in car assembly
  2. HAL-9000 (1968, from 2001: a space odyssey)
  3. R2-D2 (1977, from Star Wars)
  4. Sojourner (1996, NASA) – the first successful Mars rover

The panel of judges in future years will pare down the number of nominations awarded to fictional creations. R2-D2 actor Kenny Baker and Douglas Rains, the voice actor behind HAL, are in attendance.

Hear about it on the Sci-Fi 5 podcast

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Science & Technology

Sedna

SednaAstronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope announce the discovery a tiny planet, with a diameter of only 2,000 kilometers, orbiting the sun three billion kilometers past Pluto. That places it at an average ten billion kilometers away from Earth – with a solar year that lasts around 10,000 years. Sedna is also spotted from ground-based telescopes as well, using the initial observations made by the Spitzer Telescope; its diameter, only 300 kilometers less than that of Pluto, intensifies the “Pluto as a planet” debate that has been raging since the discovery of Quaoar.

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Television

Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar GalacticaSci-Fi channel airs the first part of the miniseries re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. A reboot rather than a sequel to the late ’70s series, this more hard-edged version of the story plays fast and loose with many of the character outlines and is influenced heavily by the post-9/11-attacks western mindset. Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell star, with the script written by Ronald D. Moore (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Hotly anticipated due to over a year’s worth of speculation about the far-reaching changes to the show’s story outline, the miniseries is an instant hit.

More about Battlestar Galactica in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Battlestar Galactica now streaming on Amazon Prime

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Television

Battlestar Galactica concludes

Battlestar GalacticaSci-Fi channel airs the second part of the miniseries re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica. Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell star, with the script written by Ronald D. Moore (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). The miniseries wins instant critical acclaim for its writers and cast, and many critics hail the new Galactica as the best Sci-Fi Channel original series to date. However, it takes some time for a full series order to happen, and will eventually involve an infusion of money from British satellite channel Sky One to be approved at all; this results in the first season airing first in the UK, and not until 2005 in North America.

More about Battlestar Galactica in the LogBook and theLogBook.com Store
Battlestar Galactica now streaming on Amazon Prime

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Deaths Matters of Life & Death

Wah Chang, Star Trek FX designer, dies

BalokOscar-winning sculptor, artist and model maker Wah Ming Chang was probably best known in SF circles for creating elaborate creatures for Star Trek (including the Horta, the alien face of Balok, and the tricorder props) and The Outer Limits. Chang also won the Oscar for special effects for George Pal’s film adaptation of The Time Machine. He also created costumes on such non-SF movies as The King And I and Cleopatra, for which he sculpted Elizabeth Taylor’s headdress. He was 86 years old.