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Cosmic Stories Blog

This blog exists to explore conceptions and representations of science or science communication through the medium of fiction. A new blog entry is posted every two weeks. For updates follow me on Twitter @Tiylaya, mastodon, bluesky or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CosmicStoriesSF.

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08 Aug 2021

Technocracy and Scientism in SF

Looking at science fiction which considers rule by science in a variety of forms.

25 Jul 2021

The Risks and Rewards of Automated Buildings

One of the key functions of science fiction is to explore both the potentialities and the risks of technologies, particularly those which are new or to which we aspire. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, automation has been a preoccupation of SF almost since it began.

11 Jul 2021

Who Wants to Live Forever

The quest for highly extended or eternal life, in the form of longevity treatments, technological solutions or genetic improvement, has been a staple of science fiction almost since it started

27 Jun 2021

Year of the Burn Up

The 1970s children's television SF drama "Timeslip" posed questions of scientific ethics which are still relevant to the current day.

13 Jun 2021

The White Dwarf

Looking at the astronomy and the catastrophism in an early episode of The Avengers from 1963.

30 May 2021

The Avengers and the Imminence of Science in 1960s Britain

The Avengers was a television series that defies classification. Here I look at its SF elements and what they tell us about science in the 1960s.

16 May 2021

A for Anticipation

"A for Andromeda" was a 1961 drama, remade in 2006. Its themes anticipate issues which are still current in astronomy today.

02 May 2021

An Icon of Futures Past

Looking at Jodrell Bank's representation in science fiction and SF paratexts.

18 Apr 2021

Kings of Space

A look at the Solar System of Captain W E Johns' classic juvenile science fiction series, starting with "Kings of Space" (1954)

04 Apr 2021

Dan Dare at Herstmonceux

Herstmonceux Castle in Sussex became the new home of the Royal Greenwich Observatory research organisation in a gradual transition that spanned the late 1940s and 1950s. As this article discusses, Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, and its host comic The Eagle provides a fascinating insight into the observatory at this moment of transition, as well as introducing children to the key features of a working observatory.

21 Mar 2021

Astronomers and Science Fiction

Exploring the relationship between astrophysicists - particularly those of Warwick Astronomy and Astrophysics - and science fiction.

Tags: Remit, Scientists
07 Mar 2021

Science and SF

The relationship between science and science fiction is a complex one.

In this short blog post I take a look at how the two may interrelate and the open questions which remain to be considered.

Tags: Remit, Scientists
21 Feb 2021

Who's Moon (an Annual view)

My essay "Who's Moon" in "Doctor Who and Science" (eds Lindy Orthia and Marcus K Harmes) has just been published. Here I explore in a little more depth two articles which present aspects of the Moon and its exploration to the avid young readers of the 1979 and 1980 Doctor Who annuals.

21 Feb 2021

Cosmic Stories

This blog exists to explore conceptions and representations of science or science communication through the medium of fiction. I decided to create this blog as a forum in which to present my own views and activities in this area, which are - inevitably - presented from the point of view of an active research astrophysicist, rather than a literary theorist or specialist in communications or media.

Tags: Remit
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This blog exists to explore conceptions and representations of science or science communication through the medium of fiction. This includes, but is not limited to, science fiction in literature, film and television, as well as other adventure fiction and their various paratexts. I decided to create this space as a forum in which to present my own views and activities in this area, which are - inevitably - presented from the point of view of an active research astrophysicist, rather than a literary theorist or specialist in communications or media. Nonetheless, I choose to make these thoughts public in case they provide entertainment or interest to others, and in the hope of stimulating conversations in the interface between the realities of our Universe and the ways in which we choose to represent and explore it in fiction. A new blog entry is posted every two weeks. For updates follow me on Twitter @Tiylaya, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CosmicStoriesSF.

Comments are very welcome, including those disagreeing with my views or conclusions, but should be phrased respectfully and will be moderated before posting.

The views and ideas expressed in this blog are my own and do not in any way represent the views of the University of Warwick.