In an alternative Earth, Hitler had a Plan B: A secret colony on the Moon, founded by troops launched from Antarctica. According to Iron Sky , that’s exactly what happened. And soon, they will be back to fight back, flying UFOs. More

In an alternative Earth, Hitler had a Plan B: A secret colony on the Moon, founded by troops launched from Antarctica. According to Iron Sky , that’s exactly what happened. And soon, they will be back to fight back, flying UFOs. More

All the life-sapping elements dreamed up by TV shows, movies, authors and game studios are here—including Kryptonite, Element X and Vibranium. Classified by media, energy potential and origin, naturally. [ RussellWalks via Urlesque via Neatorama ] More

Screen Grabs chronicles the uses (and misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com . While the US was busy delivering a certain tablet product yesterday, British sci-fi fans sat comfortably at home for a brand new Doctor Who series. We won’t go into too much detail here, but the eleventh Doctor — played by the charming Matt Smith — was spotted writing a computer virus and sending pictures on a BBC-debranded Blackberry Storm , minutes before the aliens were to incinerate Planet Earth. Perhaps the freshly-regenerated Time Lord’s a fan of the virtual keyboard?

I think I would’ve done a lot better in 10th grade Chemistry if we’d studied the Periodic Table of Sci-Fi Film and Television. And I get the feeling I’m not the only one. Click to biggie-size. More

It’s hard for a lot of us to relate to what goes on in fashion, but Alexander McQueen , recently deceased , strode across some familiar territory in his final works. Shots like this are as sci-fi as they are high-fashion. [ BoingBoing ] More

Computers in movies look nothing like the beasts we lug around today. They’re thin and light, a single pane that jumps to life when touched. Technology follows Hollywood dreams; here’s hoping this montage is a portent of what’s coming soon. The world will be shocked if Apple doesn’t reveal a tablet computer next week. It won’t be the first, not by any stretch, and it won’t be the first multitouch device, naturally. But as we envision it , the tablet represents the fusion of two of the most steadfast dreams of sci-fi nerds and ordinary people alike.

Over at the Taiwan Broadband show , Ericsson’s vision for the portable computer of 2020 uses a pico-projected screen and laser-projected keyboard. And though they’ve got a rough prototype (pictured), they imagine it ultimately squeezing into this bizarre spider-leg tripod design: It’d have essentials like wireless broadband connectivity and a battery, but I’m hoping that we’ll have cooler stuff than a laser projected keyboard by 2020. Their time has come and gone already, no? Less of that, more interactive holographic display technology, please.

Here’s the very first trailer of James Cameron’s much-hyped 3D film Avatar . And as you can see, it’s a highly aggressive blend of live action and CGI, science fiction and fantasy: Watch the trailer in high rez (links below) and it’s apparent that many of the visual effects (like the mechs in the early shots) are made to look intentionally artificial, blending the real and artificial worlds in hyperreality. And I really don’t know what else to say other than, my interest is certainly piqued. What about yours?

Sci Fi Wire makes a convincing argument, in both authoritarian pie chart form and debatable exposition, as to why Star Trek is cool (again). But what’s missing from the chart? Two words: Lens flare . Man has long marveled at the bright and shiny. He obsesses over soft metals, like gold, because of their luster.