News Philip K. Dick Award Bethany Jacobs’s These Burning Stars Wins the 2024 Philip K. Dick Award Congratulations to the winner! By Molly Templeton | Published on April 1‚ 2024 icon-comment 0 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed This past weekend‚ Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust announced the winner of the 2024 Philip K. Dick Award: These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs. The award recognizes “distinguished science fiction published in paperback original form in the United States during the previous calendar year.” These Burning Stars was published by Orbit in October. The first book of the Kindom trilogy‚ it received a starred review from Kirkus‚ who wrote: “An intricate plot for revenge drives this far-future SF political thriller. An exciting start from a fresh talent‚ offering emotional and political complexity plus plenty of interplanetary action.” The judges gave a special citation to Rebekah Bergman’s The Museum of Human History (Tin House). This year’s other nominees were: Danged Black Thing by Eugen Bacon (Apex Book Company) Infinity Gate by M. R. Carey (Orbit) Wild Spaces by S. L. Coney (Tordotcom) Where Rivers Go to Die by Dilman Dila (Rosarium Publishing) The judges for this year’s award were Kali Wallace (chair)‚ Nicky Drayden‚ Gordon Eklund‚ Christopher V. Rowe‚ and Lisa Yaszek. The Philip K. Dick Award is sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society and the Philip K. Dick Trust‚ with the annual award ceremony sponsored by the Northwest Science Fiction Society. You can watch the recording of the ceremony‚ which was held at Norwescon‚ here. [end-mark] The post Bethany Jacobs’s <;i>;These Burning Stars<;/i>; Wins the 2024 Philip K. Dick Award appeared first on Reactor.

Column SFF Bestiary Bigfoot for Kids: Bigfoot (2009) and Cry Wilderness (1987) This time I went looking for live-action adventures with kid protagonists — I wanted friendly Bigfoot. By Judith Tarr | Published on April 1‚ 2024 icon-comment 1 Share New Share Twitter Facebook Pinterest RSS Feed There’s no shortage of killer-Sasquatch movies. Some are silly‚ some are scary‚ some are rampantly gory. Some are just plain awful. They’re good old-fashioned monster movies. No rhyme‚ not a lot of reason‚ and a whole lot of chasing and roaring and screaming. Movie monsters for the most part exist to chase and roar and rampage. Even if we get some backstory or a rationale‚ it’s secondary. The monster is still a monster. We’re not there for the warm fuzzies. Bigfoot is more than a monster. Maybe it’s because he’s a primate. He’s family‚ of a sort. He’s a giant‚ but he’s not seriously off the scale. He’s not King Kong. He’s still within semi-reasonable limits. In some traditions he is dangerous and he may kill or eat you. But for the most part he’s a benign creature. Huge‚ yes; powerful‚ for sure. He’s rarely murderous and he’s not known for being destructive. He just wants to be left alone. Kids’ movies love him. I wasn’t in the mood this week for animated features—Abominable and its ilk—so I went looking for live-action Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti adventures with kid protagonists. They needed not to be monster movies; I wanted friendly Bigfoot. Harry and the Hendersons‚ but centering the kids. My search came to a somewhat abrupt halt with the straightforwardly-titled Bigfoot. I’m not sure if it’s even a B movie. D? E? Z? I recognize the mom’s face (I think) from somewhere in the low-budget-movie universe‚ but there isn’t a recognizable name in the cast. Production values aren’t bad; I’ve seen worse in prime-time TV. It’s set in California‚ and the actors are modeling-school pretty‚ except the villains‚ who are determinedly average. The kids live in mansions but act as if they’re just normal ordinary houses. They’re all supposed to be high-school freshmen‚ but they’re awfully mature for their ages. The plot is plugged straight into the standard kids’-movie template. Young Percy has a crush on gorgeous classmate Madison. Best friend Leonard is outspokenly skeptical. Things come to a head when a couple of rednecks bully Madison at the local teen hangout. Percy comes to her rescue‚ does heroic and spectacular things with a bike‚ and takes off pursued by rednecks in big ugly truck. The chase scene ends with a wipeout‚ but by then Percy has got rid of the rednecks. He comes to to find himself being inspected by a huge‚ hairy creature with sweet and very human blue eyes and serious beard and mustache. Percy immediately recognizes him as Bigfoot‚ and proceeds to make friends with him. Bigfoot is a wildfire refugee‚ driven into human territory and apparently unable to find his way back. Percy sneaks out to the woods to hang with him and bring him food (he’s a vegetarian‚ Percy discovers)‚ but that doesn’t last long—Percy is caught claiming to be with Leonard when he’s with Bigfoot‚ then enlists Madison to lie for him. But Madison wants to know what she’s lying for. Percy tells her about Bigfoot; she refuses to believe him‚ and breaks off their brand-new romance. “Nobody in the world believes in my mythical friend” is a trope of alien-monster-cryptid kidflicks (ET‚ anyone?). So is “evil rednecks (or scientists‚ hunters‚ government forces) capture my alien friend and we kids have to rescue him.” Bonus points for cool parents who also disbelieve‚ but ultimately get on board‚ with extra points for dad who is‚ very conveniently‚ a doctor. This is the ultimate soft and fuzzy Sasquatch. He’s not stinky. He’s not mean or scary. He’s not even especially huge‚ though he has super strength and can fight off a tranquilizer dose that would‚ says Redneck Number One‚ take out an elephant. He seems to be about as bright as a chimp or an orangutan; he enjoys watching movies‚ complete with popcorn‚ and he catches on to things like riding in the back of a pickup truck and being transported in a Winnebago. 1987’s Cry Wilderness has bigger aspirations (and zero‚ that’s zip nope nada‚ female characters). Its boy hero is much younger‚ but just as affluent: he attends a fancy boarding school with a stern and skeptical but not outright evil teacher. His father is a forest ranger‚ which means there must be family money‚ but that’s my writer brain getting in my way. Young Paul made friends with Bigfoot while spending summer vacation with his dad. Now he’s back in school‚ and Bigfoot has come to warn him that his dad is in danger. Of course his teacher doesn’t believe him‚ and the other kids aren’t even on the radar. He sneaks out of school and hitchhikes to the wilderness‚ where the plot tangles itself into incoherence. There’s a big game hunter‚ a massive hunt for an escaped tiger‚ a cave-in that nearly kills Paul’s dad‚ and some cringeworthy Native American nonsense. Bigfoot is caught up in the nonsense. Paul used to feed him Coke in cans‚ which Bigfoot crushed and scattered around his lair. He’s not nearly as cuddly as the 2009 model: he’s genuinely gigantic and slightly less shaggy‚ and his hair is black rather than  light brown. But he has the same human-like blue eyes. He seems to be higher on the intelligence scale than Percy’s furry friend. He communicates with Paul‚ and Paul gave him a radio‚ which he learned how to use. We don’t see as much of him as we do of Percy’s Bigfoot; after the first scene‚ in which we’re shown a model of him in a natural-history museum‚ labeled MISSING LINK‚ we only catch glimpses. Mostly he exists through what Percy says about him‚ in the face of universal disbelief. This version of Bigfoot is more of a fantasy creature than a realistic denizen of the deep wilderness. He gives Paul a pendant with supernatural powers‚ which lights up when it’s activated‚ and he’s part of a shaman’s collection of magical animals‚ including a wolf and a bird that’s supposed to be a bald eagle but I don’t think that’s what it was born as. Like Percy’s Bigfoot‚ Paul’s friend is a gentle giant. The monsters in these films are human. Bigfoot is a benevolent force‚ loyal and kind. He’s more truly humane than the humans who claim to have originated the virtue.[end-mark] The post Bigfoot for Kids: <;i>;Bigfoot<;/i>; (2009) and <;i>;Cry Wilderness<;/i>; (1987) appeared first on Reactor.

We present you funny dog posts from Mar 24 to Mar 30 that will paws-itively make you through the rest of the week!

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Once declared extinct‚ a type of Indonesian tiger may still be around‚ recent DNA analysis has tentatively suggested. Much more research is needed to be certain‚ but conservationists say there is now a glimmer of hope the Javan tiger could still be out there‚ roaming the island’s forests.The Javan tiger (Panthera tigris sondaica) was categorized as Extinct on the IUCN Red List back in 2008. Since then‚ there have been a handful of potential observations‚ each without substantiative evidence to back them up. However‚ in 2019‚ locals sighted what they thought was a Javan tiger near the village of Cipendeuy in the forest of South Sukabumi‚ West Java‚ alongside footprints and claw marks. They collected a single hair from a nearby fence.Analysis of this hair points towards it belonging to a Javan tiger‚ although further research is needed to confirm its existence. “Whether the Javan tiger actually still occurs in the wild needs to be confirmed with further genetic and field studies‚” the team concludes in their study.Still‚ the prospect has stirred public interest‚ and even efforts among Indonesian conservationists to investigate whether this “extinct” big cat is indeed still alive and kicking."The research has sparked speculation that the Javan tiger is still in the wild‚" Satyawan Pudyatmoko‚ the Indonesian ministry official who oversees conservation‚ told Reuters. "We have prepared and will prepare efforts to respond to it."According to Reuters‚ these include setting up camera traps and conducting extensive DNA sweeps‚ as well as seeking advice from genetics experts to identify any that may remain in the wild.The Javan tiger was native to Indonesia‚ one of three subspecies of tiger formerly found in the country. In 2013‚ the Bali tiger (P. tigris balica) was also declared Extinct by the IUCN‚ leaving just the Sumatran tiger (P. tigris sumatrae) surviving.Hunting and destruction of habitat are thought to be among the causes of the Javan subspecies’ extinctionIn the new research‚ scientists studied mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) – maternally inherited genetic material found outside the nucleus – from the hair and compared it with that of a Javan tiger museum specimen‚ collected in 1930. Hair samples of several tiger subspecies and the Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) were used as controls. “From this comprehensive mtDNA analysis we conclude that the hair sample from South Sukabumi belongs to the Javan tiger‚ and that it falls in the same group as the Javan tiger museum specimen collected in 1930‚” the team write.Whether or not the subspecies still exists in the wild is another matter. But with the efforts the latest discovery has inspired‚ we might soon find out – and then‚ if it turns out there are still some Javan tigers out there‚ we’ll have to do what we can to protect them."If‚ for example‚ it is proven that it still exists‚ it will certainly become a protected animal‚” Pudyatmoko told AFP. “It is the obligation of all parties‚ including the society‚ to participate in preserving their population."The study is published in the journal Oryx.

Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research‚ or KSTAR‚ is one of the most advanced test fusion reactors on the planet. Nicknamed the Korean artificial sun‚ it has now demonstrated sustained fusion temperature for almost a minute and the ability to contain extremely hot plasma for over 100 seconds.Fusion is what powers stars‚ but in stars‚ it happens at lower temperatures than we need to do it here on Earth. That’s because gravity is keeping everything packed together so fusion is more likely to happen. So the temperature required on Earth for a Tokamak system – which is a donut-shaped reactor – is about seven times the temperature at the core of the Sun: 100 million °C (180 million °F).KSTAR first reached this threshold in 2018 but only for 1.5 seconds. A year later‚ they were able to keep the plasma that hot for 8 seconds‚ increasing it to 20 seconds in 2020. The last record was in 2021‚ when the plasma was kept that hot for half a minute. Since then‚ the team at the Korea Institute of Fusion Energy (KFE) has upgraded the device by building a new tungsten divertor environment and they have pushed the temperature for longer.Now‚ KSTAR can sustain 100 million °C for 48 seconds – and it can keep hot plasma in the high-confinement mode (also known as H-mode) for 102 seconds. The goal is to achieve 300 seconds of burning plasma by the end of 2026. “Despite being the first experiment run in the environment of the new tungsten divertors‚ thorough hardware testing and campaign preparation enabled us to achieve results surpassing those of previous KSTAR records in a short period‚” Dr Si-Woo Yoon‚ Director of the KSTAR Research Center‚ said in a statement.“To achieve the ultimate goal of KSTAR operation‚ we plan to sequentially enhance the performance of heating and current drive devices and also secure the core technologies required for long-pulse high performance plasma operations.”  Beyond the tungsten divertors‚ the whole system has been tested for how it behaves under the fusion regime. Experiments like KSTAR or the Joint European Torus (JET) – which has broken a different record recently – are testbeds for both our ability to fuse using a tokamak and for the technology needed to make the fusion achievable‚ efficient‚ and sustainable.KSTAR and JET are pathfinder reactors paving the way for prototypes like ITER and DEMO‚ which are full-scale prototypes of nuclear fusion reactors. ITER will come on next year and should generate 10 times as much energy as put in. Its successor‚ DEMO‚ will generate electricity and 25 times the energy put in. “This research is a green light for acquiring core technologies required for the fusion DEMO reactor‚” added KFE President‚ Dr Suk Jae Yoo. “We will do our best to secure core technologies essential for the operation of ITER and the construction of future DEMO reactors.”DEMO is expected to begin construction soon as building plans are expected to be concluded this year.