If you were making any vacation plans involving wormholes and time travel this summer, it looks like you’d better just scale things back, and maybe just think about a nice cruise weekend or something. A study conducted at the University of Oregon has revealed that while wormholes as chaotic, unpredictable phenomena may very well exist, the current theory on how to construct a wormhole that would send its passengers to specific space-time coordinates is unworkable. This new finding supports previous studies by scientists such as Dr. Stephen Hawking, who predicted that wormholes would be unsuitable for time travel, though there are still researchers who feel that the new study is inconclusive. And at any rate, SG-1 isn’t preparing to disembark anyway – the “exotic matter” that would be required to hold a wormhole open is still a theoretical prediction of quantum physics (and presumably, nobody’s thrown a DeLorean, 1.21 gigawatts of electricity or a Police Box at the problem), so wormholes are still in the realm of theory.
Source: BBC News

For some time, it’s been debated how close Voyager 1, launched in 1977, is to the edge of the solar system; scientists realized two years ago that it was getting close, however. The latest sensor data returned by Voyager 1 would seem to indicate that the unmanned probe is nearing the heliosheath region, where the influence of the sun’s solar winds ends and the gases and matter that make up our spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy begins. In a way, the heliosheath is a miniature version of Earth’s own magnetic field, except that instead of pushing aside the solar wind, the heliosheath is a field that the entire solar system “travels” in as it moves around the galactic core. Using the probe’s plasma science package, most of the Voyager scientists are convinced that it has crossed the “termination shock” – an energized region that marks the last gasp of the sun’s influence – into the calmer heliosheath. The journey through the termination shock apparently took Voyager 1 nearly six months at a speed of one million miles per day. Voyager is 8.7 billion miles from the sun now, and if its onboard nuclear power generators hold up, should continue returning observations through the year 2020.
Source: NASA / JPL

Our pals at Messiah Entertainment, makers of the terrific NES and SNES wireless controllers that debuted last year, have scored another huge victory in bringing classic gaming back to life. This summer, Messiah is introducing Generation NEX, a new classic console that’ll give your old NES games (and, thanks to a dual cartridge slot, imported Famicom games if you’ve got ‘em) a new lease on life. Featuring built-in support for Messiah’s wireless NES controllers, as well as front-mounted controller ports for all of your favorite classic NES controllers and accessories, Generation NEX addresses the cartridge slot and power supply issues that have plagued many a vintage NES console (your webmaster’s included). The console also features NTSC baseband audio and video outputs, and best of all, it’s all made from brand new parts – and it’s styled like a sleek, 21st century update of the original NES console. Messiah is currently accepting pre-orders from their web site, and if you’re going to the Classic Gaming Expo this August in California, you can pick up your Generation NEX from them at their booth.

Messiah Entertainment – Generation NEX

The Oklahoma Video Gaming Exhibition (formerly OKGE) is mere weeks away, and if the Phosphor Dot Fossils booth and all of the goodies on display there aren’t enough to get you to Tulsa, maybe this will: OVGE will once again sport a classic arcade section this year with some vintage coin-ops set up for display (and free play!), and word has it that if you’re a fan of arcade games based on popular science fiction media franchises…you might just want to be there. High score tournaments (with prizes!) are also planned, along with the public debut of the Atari Flashback 2.0 console (first seen a couple of weeks ago by industry insiders at the annual E3 show). Also premiering will be a new Atari 2600 homebrew, Go Fish!, based on the classic Intellivision game Shark! Shark!, new from Atari Age. Click on the link below for the latest OVGE news.

Oklahoma Video Game Exhibition – June 18th, 2005

David Bassom, the author behind the excellent Creating Babylon 5, spent the entire first season behind the scenes with the cast and crew of the new Battlestar Galactica, and the result is his latest book: the officially-sanctioned Battlestar Galactica Companion. Covering everything from the writing process to the shooting stage to post production, Bassom details how the new show is made from beginning to end. The Battlestar Galactica Companion is now available from theLogBook.com’s Battlestar Galactica Store.

And if you need something to listen to while reading the above book, you can do no better than the Battlestar Galactica Season One soundtrack CD, packed with 80 minutes of music from the first 13 episodes of the new series. Composed by Bear McCreary (who we recently interviewed here at theLogBook.com), the new soundtrack promises to feature many of the fans’ favorite musical moments from the first year. The Battlestar Galactica Season One CD is now available from theLogBook.com’s Battlestar Galactica Store.

The latest Star Trek novels cover Federation history from its beginnings to what may be its end. Tales From The Captain’s Table chronicles the previous stories published under the linked “Captain’s Table” theme, as well as new tales from Captain Archer, Kira Nerys, William Riker, and many other new tales. Captain Riker is also heavily involved in Articles Of The Federation, a new novel in which the Federation’s highest office is gripped by scandal. Both of the new Trek novels are now available from theLogBook.com’s Star Trek Store.

According to the back cover blurb of the latest Doctor Who novel – and the last to feature the eighth Doctor – Gallifrey and the Time Lords are no more, and the Doctor is hot on the trail of the responsible party. The Gallifrey Chronicles not only wraps up the eighth Doctor’s print adventures, but – in a move similar to what Big Finish did with their eighth Doctor audio plays at the end of 2004 – clears the decks of any ongoing storylines to make way for the new series (which would appear to have its own different explanation for the destruction of Gallifrey – they probably should just each blame it on different events in the Clone Wars or something, and that way they can both be official.) The Gallifrey Chronicles is now available from theLogBook.com’s Doctor Who Store.

A remote human colony, fighting to remain not just self-sufficient but fighting to remain in existence at all, serves as the latest destination for the TARDIS, but the Doctor, Peri and Erimem find they’re anything but welcome. Paranoia runs rampant on Earth Colony Phoenix, and as they discover, perhaps it’s not entirely without reason. Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, Caroline Morris and 60s TARDIS traveler Deborah Watling star in Three’s A Crowd, the latest Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions. You can order it now from theLogBook.com’s Doctor Who Store.

As loyal Jeff Lynne and ELO wait anxiously for any sign of Lynne’s next new endeavours (supposedly he’s starting his own label, remastering and re-releasing his 1990 solo album Armchair Theatre as well as a double CD of the two ELO live shows played in 2001, and y’know, we’re still waiting on those), another vintage ELO compilation is in the works. Available next week, All Over The World is being touted as “the first fully remastered single-disc ELO greatest hits collection.” (Why the specificity? Because there’s alreay been a fully remastered three-disc ELO hits anthology, 2000′s Flashback.) Lynne himself has provided pages of new liner notes and “artist’s commentary” on each song for the accompanying booklet. You can order All Over The World now from theLogBook.com Store; release dates vary by region, and a North American release date hasn’t been nailed down yet.

Actor Frank Gorshin, perhaps forever associated with the role of the Riddler in the 1960s Batman TV series and movie, died on May 18th from complications arising from lung cancer and emphysema. His genre TV appearances aside from Batman included Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Edge Of Night, Buck Rogers, Black Scorpion, Lois & Clark, and dozens of appearances on variety shows, the Ed Sullivan Show, the Tonight Show, and others; his final TV appearance, in last week’s episode of CSI, was filmed just five weeks prior to his death. SF fans may remember him best for his appearance as Bele in the Classic Star Trek episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield. His movie career began in the 1950s, and ranged from classic B-movies (Invasion Of The Saucer Men, among others) to more recent films like Twelve Monkeys. As a voice actor, he brought characters to life in dozens of animated shows, movies and even video games, with one of his most recent voice roles, ironically, being Hugo Strange in the WB’s animated series The Batman. Mr. Gorshin was 72 years old.
Sources: Associated Press, IMDb

Apparently tourist snapshots are all the rage in Mars orbit, especially when an unusual convergence of three orbiting space probes occurs. NASA’s unmanned Mars Global Surveyor probe managed to capture some unique pictures in April – of other probes orbiting the planet. Two shots in particular show the shape of the Mars Odyssey probe quite clearly, taken from a distance of only 56 miles; less distinct is the shot of the European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe, taken from roughly 200 miles away. As all three of the probes zip around Mars at approximately 7,000 miles per hour, and the U.S. probes are in a different orbit than Mars Express, capturing these images was quite a feat. Odyssey and Global Surveyor, which arrived at Mars four years apart, may have the opportunity to take each other’s picture again: their respective orbits, while far enough apart to avoid any chance of a collision, occasionally bring the two as close together as 9 miles. These are the first pictures of a spacecraft taken by another spacecraft in orbit around another world, a technique that could be used in the future to help ground-based engineers judge the condition of redundant “twin” space probes far from home.

Mars Global Surveyor Images

In its upfront presentation on Tuesday, ABC announced its fall schedule, which brings back current genre favorites Lost (moving to 9pm eastern on Wednesdays) and Alias (moving to 8pm eastern on Thursdays), and introduces a healthy helping of new contenders for SF fans’ affections. A new version of Kolchak: The Night Stalker will follow Alias on Thursdays, starring Stewart Townsend (League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen‘s “Dorian Gray”) as Karl Kolchak, with former X-Files producer Frank Spotnitz writing and producing. (Chris Carter has mentioned in several occasions that the original Kolchak series, which aired in the 1970s on ABC, was a major influence on The X-Files.) Shaun Cassidy, whose last genre entry (American Gothic) won critical and fan acclaim but little network respect, is back for another try with Invasion, about a small town besieged by aliens trying to gain a foothold on Earth, airing Wednesday nights at 10pm eastern after Lost. It may not be genre fare, but those wondering if Boston Legal would be back, starring William Shatner and Rene Auberjonois, can rest easy – it’ll be moving to Tuesdays at 10pm eastern, and what’s more, it’ll have an unusually long season: this year’s produced but unaired episodes (Boston Legal was displaced from its Sunday night slight by Gray’s Anatomy) plus a whole new season’s worth of shows, around 30 new episodes in total. Another SF icon will be heading up an hour-long legal drama at midseason, as Martin Landau joins the cast of Evidence. The schedule is still subject to change, as indeed are the shows’ titles (Boston Legal was called “Fleet Street” up until just a few weeks before its 2004 premiere).
Source: ABC

After quite a bit of speculation leaning both ways, the WB Network announced that Charmed will return for its eighth season. The show will be staying on Sunday nights at 8pm eastern, and you can expect to see a new series regular played by Mark McGrath (as in the Sugar Ray lead singer). At the time of its upfront announcement on Tuesday, the WB had no further details on McGrath’s character. Smallville has also proven to be made of steel, though it’s moving to a new night, Thursdays at 8pm eastern (opposite ABC’s Alias). The WB is also picking up a new paranormal series, simply titled Supernatural, to air Tuesday nights at 9pm. This new show, concerning two brothers who seek the supernatural wherever their leads take them, is executive produced by David Nutter (Dark Angel), Eric Kripke and McG (the recent movie revivals of Charlie’s Angels).
Source: Warner Brothers

CBS is adding a little bit of SF to its fall schedule as well, with the new series Threshold getting a go for lift-off on Fridays at 9pm eastern. Created by David S. Goyer (director of Blade Trinity) and produced by David Heyman (producer of the Harry Potter movies) and Brannon Braga (Star Trek: Enterprise), Threshold stars Star Trek: The Next Generation alumnus Brent Spiner and Carla Gugino (star of ABC’s short-lived drama Karen Sisco) as members of an elite military unit who encounter alien life and technology. Right before Threshold at 8pm on Fridays is The Ghost Whisperer, a supernatural drama starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. Numb3rs stays on the schedule, airing Fridays at 10pm eastern. Genre favorites Alyson Hannigan (Buffy) and Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser M.D., Starship Troopers will be starring in a new comedy, How I Met Your Mother, airing Mondays at 8:30, but it appears that Joan Of Arcadia has burned at the stake.
Source: CBS

Originally planned for the second season’s DVD release, a replica of Corgi’s die-cast metal Liberator toy will ship with “Special Edition” packages of the third season of Blake’s 7. Packaged in an interesting B7 logo “bubble”, the tiny Liberator model is a duplicate of a toy originally made by Corgi in the late 1970s at the height of the series’ popularity in Britain. (They really had to do this “special edition” with the third season, as the Liberator doesn’t appear in the fourth; there’s no word on whether or not the fourth season will come with a first-ever die-cast replica of the crew’s scaled-down space freighter Scorpio.) You can pre-order the third season of Blake’s 7, either with or without the Liberator, from theLogBook.com’s Blake’s 7 Store; both ship on June 20th.