MetaFilter posts tagged with aliens

In praise of the sci-fi corridor

empath — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:01:28 -0800

In praise of the sci-fi corridor -- a geeky look at that staple of sci-fi movie sets - the corridor.

Thank God There's Not a "George's Journal" ...

WCityMike — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:32:09 -0800

"Hi. My name is Gene and this is my journal." Young Gene Roddenberry meets two Garfield-eyed aliens who proceed to take him everywhere in their exploration of this strange planet Earth. In the process, we see where Gene came up with the idea of a unified borderless, moneyless world that would allow dashing starship captains to seek out new life and new civilizations, boldly going where no one has gone before. We see where Gene first met tribbles, Orion slave girls, Organians, and the Guardian of Forever, and how Gene came up with phasers, tricorders, the Prime Directive, food replicators (from which he orders gagh), Questor androids, and the Enterprise design. Some perennial Star Trek secrets are finally revealed: why redshirts always die, sometimes in transporter accidents; the secret origin of IDIC; a really good use for warp nacelles; and why there are no bathrooms on the Starship Enterprise. The author even pays attention to the non-Trek areas of Roddenberry's life: young Gene has a major crush on his teacher, Miss Chapel, and would like to maybe be a fighter pilot or policeman when he grows up. There's even one or two references to, ahem, the Distinguished Competition. "You're one weird kid, Gene Roddenberry."

The Government didn't warn us about the alien threat!

jadayne — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:11:03 -0800

In august of 1979, Philip Schneider was working as a government Geologist building secret military bases when he became involved in an underground battle with alien Greys which left 67 secret service and military personnel dead. As one of only 3 survivors of the event, he became a vocal critic of the US and it’s dealings with the alien races living among us, joining the UFO lecture circuit and preparing to write a book –before he was found dead in his home of an apparent stroke, or maybe suicide. Or was it? His wife certainly doesn’t seem to think so. Regardless, he’s not the only UFO researcher to die of mysterious circumstances.

You aliens get off my lawn!

Brandon Blatcher — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:56:15 -0800

Cute aliens invading grandpa's postcards.

First, select your species to access the correct section of our website

scalefree — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:08:36 -0800

28 years ago they came to Earth. Explore the world of District 9. Consider a career with Multi-National United. Find out about enhancing your math skills with DNA from outer space. Play the game. And learn the truth behind the lies.

Bring back box office receipts. Priority One. All other priorities rescinded.

Artw — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:15:53 -0800

Tony Scott has confirmed that a prequel to Alien is in the works, with commercial director Carl Rinsch at the helm. Of course, his brother Ridley was no stranger to advertising. Meanwhile Dark Horse is celebrating 30 years of the franchise by releasing a new series of Aliens comics.

Zombies and Aliens and Darcy, Oh my!

misha — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:49:06 -0800

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." Jane Austen, who last year, along with her sisters, engaged in the deadly earnest fight against "unmentionables" in Seth Grahame-Smith's work, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, has sadly fallen prey once more, this time to aliens. Coming next year to a theater near you, from Elton John's Rocket Pictures.

Life on Another World

HumanComplex — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 08:50:49 -0800

"Everything begins with complex cladograms I scribble down on large sheets of paper. Before any pictures, these family trees serve as the 'backbone' of the project; allowing me to develop the relationships among different animals and derive ideas from one another." Welcome to the beautiful nonexistent world of Snaiad. Inhabitants include Titanoformes, Cardiocetes, Sprogophidians, and Blumbomeniforms. There are also maps and a timeline. Fantastic speculative zoology from Nemo Ramjet.

Truth: Out there?

mudpuppie — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 11:19:31 -0800

The mysteries of Area 51 revealed!

Put that in your pipe and smoke it

Artw — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:27:49 -0800

Keep watching the skies - The New York Times looks back at 50s Sci Fi films in anticipation of Alien Trespass, the new film from X-Files veteran R.K. Goodwin. One or two of those classics haven't even been remade yet!

Monks in Space!

Artw — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 23:30:30 -0800

Concept art for the Alien 3 that never was - Before the Walter Hill version was shot, entirely in brown, by David Fincher there were many iterations of the Alien 3 script. One of the more exotic ones was the Vincent Ward & John Fasano "monks in space" script, illustrated here. [via io9]

Got rodents?

Afroblanco — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:11:48 -0800

Previously discussed last fall, ABC has officially greenlit a pilot for its reworking of "V." This is welcome news to me as a sci-fi fan, especially as BSG is winding down. Here's to hoping that Caprica turns out to be every bit as cool as it should be.

Not Safe For Kids

chuckdarwin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 15:20:59 -0800

The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Show is easily the most terrifying "children's show" ever broadcast. David Nkrumah Liebe Unger Hart is pretty mysterious.

Has life on Mars been confirmed?

Joe in Australia — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 01:41:26 -0800

A British tabloid claims that NASA will today announce the probable presence of life on Mars. Planetary and atmospheric scientists from NASA's Mars program will address a press conference at 2PM EST, apparently about concentrated methane plumes that bloom and dissipate [pdf]. There was a false alarm about a similar briefing a few months ago; is this the real deal?

Evacuation

Rinku — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:01:38 -0800

Friday Flash Fun: Evacuation is a puzzle game about explosive decompression. Save the crew! Eject the aliens into space by opening the spaceship's doors! The catch: doors of the same color all open together. By the people that brought us Too Many Ninjas! Via the always excellent TGISource

Terminaliens.

EarBucket — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:17:09 -0800

Remember these UFOs? In May of last year, pictures were posted anonymously on Craiglist and Flickr of strange objects in the California sky. This Monday night, the mystery was solved.

A standup fight, or another bughunt?

Artw — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:39:36 -0800

Aliens vs Predator: Whoever wins, you lose - MeFi's own jscalzi talks about the worst Sci-Fi film of the year. Meanwhile Sigourney Weaver and Ridley Scott suggest making another alien movie - with Ripley but without any aliens. It's may not be all bad news for xenomorphs though - 2009 will see the release of Aliens: Colonial Marines is still just around the corner, hopefully.

A new approach to first contact

XMLicious — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:58:16 -0800

Hacking aliens to pieces with a machete (flash game) Amorphous+ [walkthrough 1, walkthrough 2] is the clever first offering from Caleb Rhodes / Innocuous Games. He obviously delights in designing horrifically gruesome cartoon violence sequences that you just have to chuckle at. Wielding a sword with a mouse cursor is a trick to get the hang of. Each of your enemies, various subspecies of a race of crawling blobs, exhibits a distinctive personality. Compared to other browser games I've played of the arcade genre where there's often inadequate balance and consequently a fairly linear route to invincibility Amorphous+ gives you alot of texture and character with a variety of challenging aspects. Plus there's a cool jazzy-electronic soundtrack by Revolution Void with many selectable songs.

John Hodgman: A brief digression on matters of lost time

spock — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 19:54:29 -0800

John Hodgman: A brief digression on matters of lost time
Perhaps the sweetest discourse on the subject of aliens & earth that you will ever hear — from a 2008 TED talk. (via BoingBoing)

Captain Kirks Alien Mysteries

Artw — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 22:00:05 -0800

With all the crystal skulls, nazca lines and such at the box office these days now might be the ideal time to reacquaint yourself with the theories of Erich von Däniken. What better way to do it than by watching William Shatners Mysteries of the Gods ( Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5, Pt. 6, Pt. 7, Pt. 8, Pt. 9, Pt. 10)(MULTI LINK YOUTUBE SHATNERFEST)

When Humans Punch Aliens

farishta — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:26:38 -0800

When Humans Punch Aliens: The Video Remix. A tribute to our diplomatic encounters with alien life forms.

"I wish cake had velocity to it. That way I could travel at the speed of cake."

Rhaomi — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:42:58 -0800

INNER FEELINGS FROM OUTER SPACE: An anonymous Maxis dev pairs the bizarre creatures of Spore (pre vi ous ly) with an assortment of deep and not-so-deep thoughts in this oddly amusing little video blog. Topics discussed so far: Stars, Mating, Arms, Planet Doughnut, Egg nog, Infancy, Anti-gravity, Cosmology, Hindsight, Movies, The Big Bang, and Cake. All the videos are mirrored at YouTube, with more on the way. Should serve as a decent distraction until the free Creature Creator download next month.

Unbelievable, Fantastic and Odd

MrMustard — Wed, 14 May 2008 01:28:15 -0800

The UK Ministry of Defence has just released previously classified documents detailing numerous UFO sightings and alien contacts from across the country. Report yours at UFO Watch.

Is life on Mars a good sign for us?

rongorongo — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:11:33 -0800

The "Great Filter" is a hypothetical barrier to explain why civilisations are so unlikely to progress to the point of inter-stellar colonisation that we have not encountered any in 40 years of looking. Maybe humanity has already negotiated the filter - as some massive evolutionary improbability - or perhaps it lies in our future as an almost-certain threat to our existence? We should hold our breath as we look for evidence of life on Mars.

“Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous”

KokuRyu — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:06:50 -0800

Alien Images Appear On Wall In Calgary "I looked out and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, I've lost my mind,'" resident Karen Henuset said of the first time she saw the specters. "So I asked our nanny to come and take a look at this, and the hair on her arms just stood straight up."(photo) (video)