The planet earth is under attack. Fortunately, we have these advance battle suit to fight back. Engage and destroy incoming alien transports and shutdown their mothership.

Give them hell.
Keyboard and mouse

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Nafion becomes more flexible and stretchy the hotter it gets and scientists have discovered that repeating a process of heating, stretching and bending, then cooling, allows Nafion to “remember” up to three shape positions based on temperature.

It’s not likely to make it in as a new feature on your smart-phone just yet but it’s amazing to think that there is so much more to discover in the world of science.

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The Star Trek Online Open Beta has started. During the beta test period players, who will also be capped at level 16, will only be able to play in the Klingon and Federation sections, other sections including the much anticipated Borg, will be enabled further into the beta.

During this period, and after completing the various missions to acquire skillpoints, players will be able to upgrade their ship to a first tier Cruiser, Escort ship, or Science vessel.

The first time you ‘engage’ its time to create your character and choose the gender, race, and type of player (e.g. Science Officer). There are a number of traits you can specify to give your new character the edge in certain situation, such as warp theorist, creative, techie, and lucky for the human trait pool. Depending on which character type you decided upon a number of traits will already be set – mandatory to that type, but you can add several of your own choosing.

The next step is to customise your head including your hair, skin, and eyes. Advanced options included base complexion, scarring, eye colour, hairstyle (for example buzz cut, shaved, and receding). Following this you can customise your body including your resting stance (for example brawler, robotic, thoughtful, gruff), change your height, affect your shoulders, torso and stomach (no beer belly I’m afraid!) then move onto customise your uniform including your Starfleet bade (Science Insignia, Combadge, Operations Insignia, and Command Insignia). Your hands are next with gloves or bare options and choosing the number of fingers.

Once this is done you can customise your back story by giving yourself a nickname (mine is Rogan), name your Starship (mine is U.S.S Liberator), put in a proper full name and a biography to complete your customisation.

Once you are happy with everything it’s time familiarise yourself with movement and actions, from the safety of the mess hall, such as moving around (WASD), jumping (Spacebar), looking around (right mouse button), Interact (F Key), and Zoom (mouse wheel). If you have played the recent James Cameron AVATAR game you may notice the control mechanism is quite similar.

When you are comfortable with the control mechanisms head to the turbo lift and report to the bridge where you will be assigned your first mission – “The Khitomer Crisis” which is an introductory mission involving the Borg. I will follow up with a more detailed outline of “The Khitomer Crisis” shortly, following that you move to the mission “The Price Of Liberty” which is a rescue mission, and then into the mission “Assimilation” where you have to beam down with your away team and rescue colonists from the Borg.

So far, Star Trek Online is a fascinating game, with lots going on – there is always something around the corner to do. In some ways the game reminds me a little of Star Trek: Away Team but with a more expansive universe.

The skillpoints adds another dimension to the game as you train both your crew and yourself, as well as kitting out your Starship with the latest technological developments. Controlling your Starship in space can be tricky at first until you realise that to manoeuvre you are best not travelling at near warp speed – slow down, manoeuvre, then accelerate as necessary.

Update: See our look at the Star Trek Online Beta First Mission: Khitomer Crisis

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Well, it looks surprisingly like everyone has made it alive through the first episode of Season 2 of Survivors on BBC – although it was touch and go with quite a few of them. Greg is feeling a bit worse for wear, mind you so too is Abby, Anya, Aalim and Sarah.

The back story of Survivors is being fleshed out a little more with Abby being held, after being kidnapped, whilst Laboratory scientists perform tests upon her. It seems she is quite unique amongst the survivors in that whilst the others were naturally immune Abby actually contracted the virus and recovered. James Whitaker, the chief scientist, also appears to be reporting to a higher power in Landry (played by Patrick Malahide).

We also learned a little more about Greg’s life pre the virus and it turns out he has an ever so slight anger issue.

The big thread seems to be the postcards tying together a number of the Survivors. Greg received one from his wife (his had numbers on the back – they seem to have a bit of a Lost vibe going on there – Ed), Whitaker has one, and Greg found one in the room where he was being treated. What does this postcard mean and what does Landry mean when he says “we will be able to go back home soon” ?

No doubt, none of this and more will be explained as the 6 episode season progresses.

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Image Credit: BBC

Set in the near future of 2011 scientists have been genetically enhancing plants to create a substitute for the depleting fossil fuels of the Earth. The world has quickly adopted Triffoil and is blissfully unaware of the risks these dangerous plants pose to humankind, that is until the majority of the world’s population is blinded by a solar flare.

In this story we have a little more back story about Dr. Bill Masen (played by Dougray Scott) whose mother was killed by a Triffid sting some years earlier and Masen is haunted by visions from the past. Masen works at a Triffoil Triffid farm who is stung by a baby Triffid, when trying to stop a meddling environmentalist (played by Ewen Bremner), and is temporarily blinded. Jo Playton is a BBC radio journalist covering the solar activity and is sent into the London Underground to get opinions from travellers. Torrence (played by Eddie Izzard) is asleep during a flight with his eyes covered. A few hours later and their personal circumstances have saved them and these three people are plunged into a bleak dark future – and the Triffids haven’t shown up yet.

The Triffids are cleverly kept just out of shot for half the story so when the Triffids do eventually show up we get to see them as large, multi-tentacled, beasts with large bulbous, almost cloak like, heads unlike the foreboding, almost celery stick, sleek figures from the 1981 TV series. The Triffids have also mastered their root and branch systems allowing them to reach out and grab people.

The story is re-imagined from the original book and, whilst most plot points are there in some form, the story has been tightened around Torrence’s ruling ambitions and Masens struggle (in this case to find his father). We don’t learn much about Torrence and his background or motivations which leaves you wondering who he really is, perhaps that may be explored in a later story? It is however, pivotal to the show. Jo Playton has little to do other than follow Masen around – it would have been interesting to flesh out her back story a little more.

In many ways the new Day Of The Triffids feels very similar in style and tone to the recent reimaging of Survivors. If you took the Triffid element out of the story you would be left with a very similar show (replace Masen looking for his father with Abby Grant looking for her son). Some of the story elements are similar too, such as the incident when Masen is sent to collect food from a food warehouse bearing a striking similarity to Grand and Co finding the food warehouse. The makeshift government agency is similar too.

The end of the story leaves with a spark of hope, and more than a bit of trouble for Torrence, but the way the two parter ended, with a number of unfinished threads, it looks set for a possible sequel, perhaps a mini-series in the vein of the recently re-imagined Survivors. Let’s hope so, it’s about time we had a science fiction revival on the British TV.

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The investigative pair, from the popular 1970’s science fiction drama continue their investigations to prevent Time invading which involves time travel and dimension hopping members of medium atomic weights protecting each dimension (apparently transuranic, heavy, elements cannot be used where there is life) so its fortunate that suitable elements include Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel are around – all with their unique and appropriate skills. Sapphire has an empathic approach to investigation and has the ability to turn back time under certain conditions, whereas Steel has a much colder, harder and stronger approach often leading to some questionable decision making (including a lot of shouting and a little slapping). Silver, with his humour and trickery, shows up in other audio adventures to help the pair along.

The story of Daisy Chain is set in Suburbia in 2004 “And it looks like rain. Sapphire and Steel are drawn to a house apparently much like any other on the street, except that this one, and the family living in it, harbour a secret that threatens to destroy them all.“

There is something about a children’s music in a story like this that really sets the scene for a haunting story as we join the somewhat disfunctional family during their celebration of Jamie passing his university entrance exams only to hear the clicking of a tape recorder as it replays the last moments over and over. Time for Sapphire and Steel to find out what is going on…

Susannah Harker takes on the role of Sapphire and fits into the role, previously held by Joanna Lumley, really well and David Warner, the science fiction stalwart, is an inspired choice as the cold hard Steel, replacing David McCallum.

The different thing about Sapphire and Steel adventures is that they don’t always consist of happy endings, and the plot lines can sometimes be quite disturbing, which makes the stories really stand out. Even if you are not a fan of the Sapphire and Steel series, you can still get a lot of entertainment from this supernatural ghost story.

The story Daisy Chain, by Joseph Lidster, is produced by Big Finish Productions.

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I don’t know about you but I am expecting some kind of major twist to tie these remaining stories together and set the scene for the new Doctor – especially as rumours abound that David Tennant may be headed for the big screen as The Doctor.

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The initial premise which sets the scene for story got me hooked “John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. He visited his wife’s grave. Then he joined the army.”.

Old Man’s War is the first book, that I can recall, of which I have read in just one single day. The pacing, engagement of the story, together with the “I wonder what happens next” feeling led to me find moments throughout the day to read another chapter.

As the title suggests, the story is centred around the aging central character, John Perry, and follows the initial years of his military training and career (he is a member of the off world secretive CDF, Colonial Defense Forces) defending our future Earth from alien threats. John meets up with several other senior citizens during the training period and they collectively form a happy band of “Old Farts”, as they call themselves, and stay in touch through a shared computer network implanted in their brain. A key advantage to the CDF of recruiting aging citizens is that they each bring a lifetime of experience, insighs, and decades of collected knowledge which can be of benefit during their service.

The crux of the deal is that the senior recruits regain their youth, health and vitality which obviously becomes an alluring prospect amongst the ageing recruits, driving them to sign up without any information of what they are really getting themselves into. When they hear “regaining their youth” – do have any idea what the process may actually involve? There is a promise of a minimum two year sign-up period, with an option for ten years, after which recruits can give up their commission and settle down on a homestead away from the Earth. Not many choose this option – primarily because they don’t live that long as they are often thrown straight into difficult combat after training. The training itself of course is anything but basic.

Fortunately, our hero, John Perry has a logical and experienced head on his shoulders and quickly puts it to use as he finds favour in the ranks, with a good measure of inventiveness and good luck thrown in for good measure. Eventually, John gains the attention of the Ghost Brigade, in particular the seemingly familiar, to John, Jane Sagan, will he become the first ‘realborn’ to actively serve in the even more secretive Ghost Brigade? Or will he literally be torn apart during battle?

To give you some sense of the story line, three other stories jumped to mind whilst reading Old Man’s War, Firstly, there fountain of youth scenario reminded me of the movie Cocoon about a group of seniors who discover a swimming pool “fountain of youth” that makes them feel young again. Next, the Arthur C. Clarke story 3001: The Final Odyssey which continues the adventure of astronaut Frank Poole as he is discovered a thousand years later. Poole is reanimated and brought back to life and we follow him as he tried to understand a future he was never meant to see. Finally, the key element would be the movie Starship Troopers about a war stricken future where humans have to battle endless streams of alien creatures without really understanding the bigger picture.

At 319 pages the story is very fast paced and really well plotted. Old Man’s War is definitely worth a few hours of reading time and will leave you wanting to know more.

Since writing this review I have also read the sequel to Old Man’s War, entitled The Ghost Brigades and I will write that up shortly.

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The story opens in Scotland, 1965, with a bus load of children heading towards the white light, with a hint of a nod to Close Encounters of the Third Kind. We then catch up with the Torchwood team, and Rhys, in present day with a much smaller group of team members. Martha Jones is missing from the line up, apparently on holiday and Mickey (who we felt was going to cross over from Doctor Who) was also noticeably absent. Then, the children stop and the story starts – but is it only the children?

The Home Office are in command, in discussion with some military UNIT, and certainly hold most of the cards leading to the unearthing of information about the elusive 456 – the frequency allocation of what? Jack and Ianto relationship is solidified with numerous references to them being a couple as they deal with an alien parasite in the hospital and meet up with a very curious doctor. Jack and Ianto split up to find a child, something which offers us an interesting insight into their back stories, especially Jack who now appears to have a very unusual home life … but who is this apparent sibling “Alice”?

Captain Jack and a number of others are soon red flagged at the Home Office and a strange blank page order is issued – we soon discover exactly what a blank page order means. It was interesting to see the Home Office personal secretary give out her login name and password to a new starter, Lois Habiba, who then puts it on a post-it note attached to the screen. Later, Gwen scans her hand on what appears to be an old Umax scanner – though it seems to have had a slight firmware upgrade.

The patient, Timothy White, in the psychiatric ward could hold the key as he is the link between the events of 1965 and those happening today. He has a keen sense of smell but can the Torchwood team keep him safe from the oncoming blank page order.

Jack suffers from a sudden case of upset stomach, Ianto is up in the air, Gwen discovers some startling news and we are left with the children chanting “We are coming … back”. One thing is for sure, the Hub is going to need slightly more than a new lick of paint.

Day One has opened, and finished, with a bang with the Torchwood behind the scenes team, and on screen team, pulling out all the stops to offer a much darker, edgier, storyline and open up can after can of worms as skeletons fall out of every closet. 

We can’t wait for day Two … bring it on.

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Credit: BBC

“When every single child on Earth stops, Torchwood is thrown into a world of terror.“

Ok, so its only five parts but its Torchwood and we are more than ready for “Children of the Earth” set to be broadcast on BBC One in the UK from 6th July 2009 (9pm). The third (albeit short) season three of Torchwood will feature Captain Jack, Ianto Jones and Gwen Cooper in a brand-new story so even new viewers can enjoy the Torchwood experience. Rhys Williams will also return – on the run with Gwen from government hit squads.

With little to no Doctor Who on the screens at the moment, Primeval all done and dusted there is really little else to watch out for in Science Fiction terms (not including the hilarious The Legend of Dick and Dom). If you really can’t wait that long you could catch the re-run of the classic Day of the Triffids on BBC Four from 5th July starting at 7pm.

One of the strengths of Torchwood is that it can cross the boundaries into darker storylines as well as lighter ones and it doesn’t have to be held back by much of the canon that Who often falls back on. In this five part series the human race faces its darkest days and the Torchwood team need to call upon every ounce of strength and resourcefulness to protect the Earth from the oncoming threat from the 456.

Credit: BBC

We are expecting a fast, focused and yet epic storyline, with action, drama and cliff hangers aplenty. If Torchwood is to stand on its own and finally prove the doubters it has the strength to carry its own audience then now is that time to pull out all the stops and show it. With writing from Russell T Davies, John Fay (Mobile, Clocking Off, and recently Robin Hood) and James Moran (Severance, Doctor Who) and in the hands of Direction from Euros Lyn (Phoo Action, Inspector George Gently, Casualty), Production from Peter Bennett (Honest, Agatha Christie: Poirot, Sea of Souls), and Executive Production from Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner (Ashes to Ashes, Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures) all the elements are there to provide a rip roaring week of excitement.

Looking forward for the series as a whole the introduction of Captain John Hart, in season 2, opens up the possibility of a potential replacement for Captain Jack should the need arise – as John Barrowman has his fingers in many entertainment pies and the replacement of the lead character is a common trait in the Whoniverse – but we hope Captain Jack stays for a few seasons yet. Actually the often referred to Time Agency opens up the possibility of any number of potential replacements as they slip through time which could all add a unique twist to the show. We know Captain Jack can’t run indefinitely as he is going to be quite busy with his pre-destined future as the Face of Boe.

If this mini season is a success it could lead the way to future Torchwood especially a season 4 – lets hope so – we will be watching – will you?

Images: BBC

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