Food of the Future, the Best 1980s Sci-Fi Films, Moving a Couch During an Alien Invasion, and More!
Hello, my little donut wormholes! In today’s round-up of recent sci-fi and fantasy links, we’re going to talk about the best 1980s sci-fi movies, food in the future, the possibility of time travel, and more! The thigh’s the limit—let’s go!
Culinary Adventures in the Future
Do you ever wonder what humans will eat in the future? And by we, I mean humans. Will it be silver protein packs? Whole meals in a single pill? (Each other?) And why is food often mentioned in fantasy but not science fiction? (The Hobbits get a whole second breakfast!) Interstellar MegaChef author Lavanya Lakshminarayan wondered about these things, and in this Nerd Daily post, she explained why. “Aside from notable exceptions that I’ll get to later, most food in science fiction is a throwaway sentence, an all-encompassing afterthought that seems to get the chore of eating out the way amidst all the heavy-lifting of world-building, big(ger) ideas, and heroes’ journeys. Minimalism and efficiency seem to be the favoured approaches towards science fiction foods, regardless of tone, stakes, and settings across a slew of universes.
And this begs the question: why?“
Okay, But Really, Is Time Travel Possible?
One of the biggest tropes in sci-fi is time travel! Heroes and villains often go back in time to try and change an event or stop an event, even though it will mess up the future. But is it really possible? Spoiler: nah. Adi Foord, Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Maryland explains why:
“Famously, physicist Stephen Hawking tested the possibility of time travel by throwing a dinner party where invitations noting the date, time, and coordinates were not sent out until after it had happened. His hope was that his invitation would be read by someone living in the future, who had capabilities to travel back in time. But no one showed up. As he pointed out: ‘The best evidence we have that time travel is not possible, and never will be, is that we have not been invaded by hordes of tourists from the future.'”
New Anthology of Speculative Fiction, Essays, and Interviews Announced
Okay, so we probably won’t be able to go back in time and fix things, so we have to continue to work on the here and now. And also the future. To that end, three great minds of SFF—Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz, and Malka Older—announced an upcoming anthology. We Will Rise Again: Speculative Stories About Political Protest, Resistance, and Hope, will be “an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer visions of the future, fantastical alternate worlds, and inspiration for the social justice movements of tomorrow.”
The 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 1980s
In this week’s list of pop culture to dissect and agree/disagree with, Collider has a list of the 10 best sci-fi movies of the 1980s, ranked. My thoughts: I was surprised to see that so few of them were based on books, and I am not mad about their choice for number one. I also don’t know what else I would have put on the list. The sci-fi movies I probably watched the most in the 1980s were Flight of the Navigator, Solarbabies, and The Last Starfighter, and while nostalgia-inducing and pretty fun, they don’t exactly make for the best movie material.
And a Short Story to See You Out
If you have never read Daryl Gregory, I recommend you drop everything and pick up one of his books now! He writes all kinds of speculative fiction, like the horror books Revelator and We Are All Completely Fine, and great sci-fi, like the family drama Spoonbenders. He’s also got a talent for picking great titles. The Reactor recently shared his new short story, “I’m Not Disappointed Just Mad AKA The Heaviest Couch in the Known Universe.” It’s about a stoner kid and his friend, who are trying to move a couch during an alien invasion. You should check it out while we wait for his new book, When We Were Real, coming in April 2025! “Let’s skip the prologue for now and get right to the invasion, which all started for Tindal with the tragedy of the Tim Hortons cookie.”
Okay, star bits, now take the knowledge you have learned here today and use it for good, not evil. If you want to know more about books, I talk about books pretty much nonstop (when I’m not reading them), and you can hear me say lots of adjectives about them on the BR podcast All the Books! and on Instagram.
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