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RIP Ursula Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin, one of the greatest science fiction and fantasy writers of all time, sadly passed away yesterday at the age of 88. Her writing career spans six decades, from 1959 right up until ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
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RIP: Adam West, star of Batman

Adam West, star of the 1960 Batman TV series has passed away at the age of 88. A well-recognised actor who struggled to find regular employment after Batman, West never allowed his shortcomings as an ...
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RIP Jerry Pournelle

Jerry Pournelle, the first author to write a novel on a computer, passed away September 8th, at the age of 84. He has a long list of science fiction novels, and he has his own tag here on SFF: jerry-...
Mithical's user avatar
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41 votes
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Alberto Uderzo RIP: fantasy (Getafix and his magic potion) and laughter were his gifts

I read in the news today that at the age of 92, Alberto Uderzo passed away from a heart attack. He and René Goscinny brought us Astérix and Obélix, those zany and funny Gauls, and a variety of Roman ...
KorvinStarmast's user avatar
38 votes
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748 views

What's next for chat

The Story So Far (tm): The main chat for Sci-fi and Fantasy, Mos Eisley, has been slowly creeping out of line with the standard expected of all Stack Exchange chat rooms. This has meant that it has ...
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37 votes
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1k views

RIP Terry Jones

Terry Jones - actor, writer, comedian, screenwriter, and director - has died just short of his 78th birthday. He was of course most famous for his work as part of Monty Python, starring in roles such ...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
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35 votes
0 answers
657 views

Sci-Fi moderator on AI content strike

As some of you may be aware a new policy came into effect recently, whereby moderators network wide were told to not moderate new content on the site solely on the basis of it being AI generated. If ...
AncientSwordRage's user avatar
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34 votes
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RIP, Grant Imahara

Unfortunately, this is not a myth to be busted, Grant Imahara has passed away today at 49 years old (reportedly from a brain aneurysm). Grant was best known for his role on the Discovery Channel's ...
Skooba's user avatar
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32 votes
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203 views

Hailing frequencies closed: RIP Nichelle Nichols (Star Trek's Uhura)

Nichelle Nichols, best known for playing Nyota Uhura (most commonly just "Uhura") on Star Trek: The Original Series, has passed away at age 89. In a message posted to Facebook, her son ...
Mithical's user avatar
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32 votes
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423 views

Please avoid trivial edits during Winter Bash

We all love the hats,* and we covet the fashionable scarf of the Timey Wimey hat. But please, make edits that you would be proud of during the rest of the year. Edits should be, as always, either ...
AncientSwordRage's user avatar
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31 votes
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RIP Irrfan Khan

Irrfan Khan was an Indian actor who left us today. With no backing, he climbed the success stairs based on raw talent. From a memorable supporting role in the Indian fantasy series Chandrakanta to a ...
Ankit Sharma's user avatar
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29 votes
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RIP Rutger Hauer, actor for Roy Batty

Variety reports that Rutger Hauer, actor in Sin City, Batman Begins, True Blood, and other sci-fi and horror films, has died at 75. He will perhaps be best remembered for his role in Blade Runner as ...
Thunderforge's user avatar
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28 votes
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439 views

RIP - Kit Berry

I was saddened to learn of the recent death of Kit Berry (Kirsten Espensen), author of the wonderful fantasy series of Stonewylde. Gollancz publishers noted her passing in a post dated 1 November 2021,...
Rand al'Thor's user avatar
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Aron Eisenberg, who played Nog on ST:DS9, died today at age 50

Aron Eisenberg, known to SFF fans for his recurring role as the Ferengi Nog in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, died today at the age of 50. The cause of death has not been revealed. I personally loved ...
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27 votes
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RIP Gene Wolfe, 1931–2019

The prolific science fiction and fantasy author Gene Wolfe is dead at 87. He is probably best known for the "dying Earth" tetralogy The Book of the New Sun and the rest of the Solar Cycle, but his ...
tobiasvl's user avatar
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514 views

Let's take a moment to congratulate some exceptional users

First off let me say that I am aware that this post is quite late coming but we can all blame our resident moderator Rand al'Thor for that; he has taken longer to get to 100k than I thought. Anyway ...
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1 answer
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Why was this flag (about a post containing religious slurs and anti-semitic content) declined by a moderator?

I spotted this gem of an answer to the question 'What do the symbols on the mummy's face mean?' Highlights include; Looks like the heretical language of Enochian (which has zero to do with ...
Valorum's user avatar
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25 votes
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208 views

RIP Priscilla Tolkien

Priscilla Tolkien, last surviving child of JRR Tolkien, has died at the age of 92. The news comes from Lady Margaret Hall college in Oxford: The college announces with regret the death of Priscilla ...
ibid's user avatar
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25 votes
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189 views

RIP Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-Man and Dr. Strange

Comics artist Steve Ditko has sadly passed away. He began work as a comic inker in 1953 alongside Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, and worked for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics before retiring from ...
Thunderforge's user avatar
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23 votes
0 answers
336 views

Retiring as room owner

I am writing this post to announce that I am retiring as a room owner of our SFF chat room. The reason is simple: I haven't been active in chat for the last 10 months or so. As some of you know, ...
Praxis's user avatar
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23 votes
1 answer
662 views

Gorilla vs. Shark - a Longer Explanation

An issues that has come up recently, that seems to recur every so often, is the question of what constitutes a "Gorilla vs. Shark" question on SF&F. We know such questions are off-topic, ...
KutuluMike's user avatar
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22 votes
0 answers
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Rest in peace, Robbie Coltrane, you were magical for us!

Robbie Coltrane, probably best known for his performance as Rubeus Hagrid in the Harry Potter film series, has passed away. Actor Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter films, has ...
Skooba's user avatar
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22 votes
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213 views

Richard Herd (V mini-series, Star Trek, SeaQuest 2032, etc.)

Veteran character actor Richard Herd passed away in May at the age of 87. He played a wide range of roles both in and out of the sci-fi genre. Some of his more memorable science fiction ...
Helbent IV's user avatar
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22 votes
0 answers
188 views

RIP Verne Troyer, star of Austin Powers

Verne Troyer, best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers movies, has died at the age of 49. In addition to his iconic role, he also portrayed the original Griphook in Harry Potter and the ...
Valorum's user avatar
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22 votes
0 answers
426 views

Resigning as Mos Eisley room owner

Well, it'll always be Mos Eisley to me, seeing as I chatted there from 2012 to 2017. Old habits are hard to break! I am resigning as Room Owner of the current SFF chatroom -- it's just not the same. ...
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22 votes
0 answers
2k views

Futurama Week + Q&A Event on July 11th!

SciFi.SE has partnered with Comedy Central to promote Futurama's upcoming season. We're declaring Futurama the topic of the week for the next week and, after that, we're launching a special Futurama ...
Brett White's user avatar
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22 votes
0 answers
269 views

Scifi Stack Exchange is now "Science Fiction & Fantasy"

ANNOUNCEMENT: This site has been officially renamed "Science Fiction and Fantasy". While both subjects were generally considered on topic, the fantasy genre is now explicitly integrated into this ...
Robert Cartaino's user avatar
21 votes
0 answers
177 views

RIP Tina Turner

Rock and Roll/Rhythm and Blues icon Tina Turner passed away at her home in Switzerland today, at age 83. Although most knew the "Queen of Rock'n'Roll" for her music career, Science Fiction ...
Spencer's user avatar
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21 votes
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110 views

RIP Cliff Simon (Stargate SG1 Ba'al)

Cliff Simon was best known in sci-fi circles as the Goa'uld System Lord Ba'al in Stargate SG1. He died in a kiteboarding accident "He was known to most of you on this page as the villain you ...
Machavity's user avatar
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21 votes
0 answers
292 views

RIP William Morgan Sheppard: Star Trek, Babylon 5, Doctor Who, Max Headroom, many more

Genre actor W. Morgan Sheppard, veteran of several franchises, died yesterday. Just some of his better known genre roles: Ira Graves (Data's grandpa), TNG: "The Schizoid Man" The Klingon ...
Politank-Z's user avatar
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21 votes
0 answers
545 views

RIP Unshô Ishizuka, Japanese voice actor for Professor Oak, Jet Black, and Joseph Joestar

Unshô Ishizuka passed away on August 13, 2018. He was a prolific Japanese voice actor who voiced many popular characters in anime such as Professor Oak (Pokémon), Jet Black (Cowboy Beebop), and Joseph ...
Thunderforge's user avatar
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20 votes
0 answers
352 views

Archive.org may be forced to take down the Open Library

Mentioned in a comment here, but the Internet Archive lost a decision regarding the hosting of digital copies of books. I know that I will often link to one of their books for story-identification ...
FuzzyBoots's user avatar
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20 votes
0 answers
190 views

RIP - Dean Stockwell

Dean Stockwell is dead at 85 from natural causes. Dean Stockwell, the award-winning actor who was best known for playing Admiral "Al" Calavicci on the popular sci-fi series Quantum Leap, ...
FuzzyBoots's user avatar
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20 votes
0 answers
240 views

RIP Terry Goodkind

Fantasy author Terry Goodkind, known for his long-running The Sword of Truth series, has died at the age of 72. His agent confirmed his passing to Tor Books and Tor.com. Quoted from Tor Books website ...
TimSparrow's user avatar
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20 votes
0 answers
249 views

RIP Dennis “Denny” O’Neil

Dennis O'Neil, an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his ...
Martin Schröder's user avatar
20 votes
0 answers
218 views

Let's take a moment to congratulate some user milestones

Not too long ago I made a couple of posts congratulating some of our highest reputation users hitting some of the big milestones. Recently I've noticed a handful of users have reached some lower but ...
TheLethalCarrot's user avatar
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20 votes
0 answers
162 views

In Memoriam: Len Wein (1948-2017)

September 10th was marked by the passing of Len Wein, the comic book writer known for his work on Swamp Thing and Wolverine (the two he co-created with various artists), and other things. Although I ...
Gallifreyan's user avatar
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19 votes
0 answers
222 views

And the Best New User of 2020 is

As a way to celebrate the New Year and lasting contributions to the site by new users I am continuing this honorary post based on a simple premise... The user with the highest rank in the yearly ...
Skooba's user avatar
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19 votes
0 answers
122 views

D.C Fontana, famed Star Trek writer, passed away on December 2nd

Star Trek wouldn't be Star Trek without her. She wrote many of the best episodes, helped develop the universe and gave us that series that we have loved for decades now. More information on Startrek....
Sava's user avatar
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19 votes
0 answers
548 views

Fill the empty tag excerpts

Tag excerpts are very useful. They provide a brief “elevator pitch” for a tag, explaining the meaning for those unfamiliar with a series. At least as important, excerpts and wikis can also help ...
Adamant's user avatar
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17 votes
0 answers
186 views

And the Best New User of 2021 is

As a way to celebrate the New Year and lasting contributions to the site by new users I am continuing this honorary post based on a simple premise... The user with the highest rank in the yearly ...
Skooba's user avatar
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16 votes
0 answers
125 views

RIP Yaphet Kotto (Alien, The Running Man, etc.)

Yaphet Kotto died on March 15, 2021 at the age of 81. A perennial supporting actor, Kotto had multiple prominent sci-fi/genre roles, including Parker in Alien and the video game spin-off Alien: ...
Donatello Swansino's user avatar
16 votes
0 answers
226 views

Remember that time when we had more Star Wars questions than Harry Potter questions?

Did you know that between 2016-12-23 and 2017-07-05, Science Fiction & Fantasy SE had more Star Wars questions than Harry Potter questions? We can thank this to the popularity of the Disney Star ...
b_jonas's user avatar
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16 votes
0 answers
228 views

RIP Harry Dean Stanton

Noted character actor Harry Dean Stanton has died at the age of 91. In a career spanning more than 60 years, he starred in a number of hit science-fiction and fantasy films including Alien, The ...
Valorum's user avatar
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16 votes
0 answers
128 views

RIP George A. Romero

George A Romero, best known for his seminal Night of the Living Dead film series has died after a brief battle with lung cancer. His work has had an incalculable influence on modern movie-making and ...
Valorum's user avatar
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16 votes
0 answers
143 views

Are you interested in writing for the Blog?

You have to go back 13 entries on the blog to find something that wasn't written by me. I'd really like to see more participation from users submitting stuff for the blog. Some ideas (but not limited ...
Jack B Nimble's user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
295 views

Why was this question closed as "General reference"?

This question was closed - by a unilateral moderator vote - as "General Reference". https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/12900/what-is-the-origin-and-scope-of-term-legendarium Question ...
DVK-on-Ahch-To's user avatar
15 votes
0 answers
200 views

RIP Michael F. Flynn

Author Michael F. Flynn, most notable for the Firestar sequence of novels, passed away at the very end of September. Flynn got his start publishing short works mostly in Analog in the mid-1980s, ...
DavidW's user avatar
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15 votes
0 answers
145 views

RIP Colin Cantwell

Concept artist Colin Cantwell has passed away at the age of 90. Cantwell contributed to films including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and WarGames, and also wrote two sci-...
F1Krazy's user avatar
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15 votes
0 answers
231 views

Peter Mark Richman (Star Trek, Twilight Zone, many, many others), RIP

Character actor Mark Peter Richman passed away January 21, 2021 at the age of 93. In the sci-fi and fantasy genres, he's probably best remembered as the brusque but cagey Ralph Offenhouse in the Star ...
Helbent IV's user avatar
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