Author Archives: JD DeLuzio

Novel Review: “Dark Places”

I have a meanness in me, real as an organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop on the floor so you could stomp on it.

Gillian Flynn’s 2009 bestseller takes its readers on a dark thrill ride as Libby Day, childhood survivor of a massacre blamed on Satanists, questions the events of the night and her own memories and testimony.

The film, starring Charlize Theron, Chloë Moretz, and Christina Hendricks (of Mad Men and Firefly fame), will be in theaters come September. Fans of suspenseful, dark mysteries will want to read the book first.

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The Walking Dead Review: “Claimed”

In the fantasy/SF/horror genres, you have two basic directions: embrace your premise’s absurdities, or try not to call too much attention to them. Walking Dead has tried to be realistic with gritty character drama developing from an obviously absurd premise that viewers accept as essential to the series.

This week, they called a little too much attention to the show’s inherent absurdities, as two of our survivor groups dealt with outsiders.

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‘Heroes’ returns in ’15

Fez alerted us to this story yesterday, and by now you may have heard:

Heroes will be returning for another season.

The popular show began with a strong first season– and then meandered into mediocrity, as no one seemed to know what to do next. Do we want to see another season? Can they get it right again? Or has time passed it by, with other superhero shows now drawing viewers?

Newspace

No theme this week, but an interesting medley of reports:

The European Space Agency will launch P.L.A.T.O. by 2024,which will search for habitable extrasolar planets.

A universe based on quantum mechanics? MIT astronomers have proposed an experiment to test the last major loophole for Bell’s inequality.

Researchers have made lightweight, superstrong artificial muscles from the polymers used in fishing lines.

And we learn that a large moon may not be necessary for life to develop on a planet.

If you seek Kate Upton’s zero-gravity photoshoot, look for yourself, being wary of the many traps and videobaits. But below, we have a history of science-fiction predictions, some updates from the International Space Station, and cosplay from Katsucon:

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Newspace

The Olympics may be getting most of the sports coverage—but can luge compare with…

Robot Soccer from Japan?

Maybe Back to the Future won’t land too far off the mark

I always feel like this should be bigger news, but it will remain just another Newspace for awhile longer. In any case, scientists at the Nuclear Ignition Facility in California have taken another tiny step towards the fusion reactor.

In a related story, Space Precinct might return

NASA has apparently solved the puzzle of the jelly doughnut rock on Mars.

The other announcement that surprised nobody

Toxic chemicals may be responsible for increased rates of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

The more-publicized announcement, Reject Superheroes, and Cosplay, below.

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