Star Trek's hopeful vision of the future does not always allow its stories to be taught space travel thrillers that examine ...

A scene by scene look at Ridley Scott's 1979 classic, from the grimy Nostromo and its Freudian design to the hidden meaning of Ripley's song ...

Aliens is more influential than Alien, introducing the Colonial Marines, the Queen, and upping the Xenomorph threat level.

Historical epics, dystopian futures, crime thrillers, a few androids and so many Russell Crowe accents. Travel from the distant past to the 'Alien' future as we rank the legendary director’s films.

Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. A host of intriguing technologies make an appearance, including interstellar ...

Director James Cameron’s acclaimed sci-fi movie Aliens turns 40 in August. It’s a sequel to Ridley Scott’s claustrophobic breakout hit Alien, made in 1979. Where the original featured one terrifying ...

When a US F-15E Strike Eagle pilot, after ejecting over central Iran, described seeing Iranian drones moving as a single coordinated entity resembling a giant jellyfish, his account triggered intense ...

Directive 8020 takes place in the near future, where the Corinth corporation launches two interstellar colonisation vessels, the Cassiopeia and Andromeda, toward Tau Ceti f. The plan is simple enough: ...

Where later sci-fi features would have to come up with ever more arcane reasons for their alien assailant's destruction, 1958's The Blob had the luxury of needing no explanation. An otherworldly goop ...

This article first appeared in the Planet Money newsletter. You can sign up here. OK, hear me out. I'm about to get into a new book with a provocative argument about why income inequality has exploded ...