Montreal improv group Improv 4 Breakfast is presenting episode 4 of their D&D-inspired live show, YES AND… DRAGONS.
Adventurers: Simon Pelletier, Selene Bance, and Stevie Laskaris
Dungeon Master: Tyson Fraleigh
Tickets are $15 (plus tax). Show starts at 9:30PM, on Saturday, April 26. 3716 Notre-Dame Ouest.
The new species, which has been named Ruopodosaurus clava, would have been an armoured dinosaur about five to six metres long, reports a new study published this week in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Victoria Arbour, curator of paleontology at the Royal B.C. Museum and lead author of the new study, said Ruopodosaurus would have lumbered through the coastal redwood forests between the Rocky Mountains and an inland sea that covered Saskatchewan and Alberta during the Middle Cretaceous, about 100 million to 94 million years ago. Previously identified footprints suggest the other creatures it lived alongside: giant crocodiles, duck-billed dinosaurs and bird-like dinosaurs — and a related group of four-toed ankylosaurs.
But no bones of three-toed, club-tailed ankylosaurs have ever been found in North America from the Middle Cretaceous, which, until now, suggested they may have gone extinct during this time, before reappearing about 84 million years ago, perhaps by the migration of populations from Asia. The tracks from this new species suggest otherwise.
This species, Arbour said, is “new for North America. It’s new for the world…. And it really helps us fill in this gap in the fossil record.”
More to read: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/ankylosaurid-footprints-1.7511766
Pallab Ghosh, Science Correspondent BBC
Scientists have found new but tentative evidence that a faraway world orbiting another star may be home to life.
A Cambridge team studying the atmosphere of a planet called K2-18b has detected signs of molecules which on Earth are only produced by simple organisms.
This is the second, and more promising, time chemicals associated with life have been detected in the planet’s atmosphere by Nasa’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
But the team and independent astronomers stress that more data is needed to confirm these results.
The lead researcher, Prof Nikku Madhusudhan, told me at his lab at Cambridge University’s Institute of Astronomy that he hopes to obtain the clinching evidence soon.
“This is the strongest evidence yet there is possibly life out there. I can realistically say that we can confirm this signal within one to two years.”
Seattle Worldcon 2025, the 83rd World Science Fiction Convention, is delighted to announce the finalists for the 2025 Hugo Awards, Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book, and Astounding Award for Best New Writer.
1,338* valid electronic nominating ballots were received by the deadline of March 14 at 11:59 p.m. PDT and counted from the members of the 2024 and 2025 World Science Fiction Conventions for the 2025 Hugo Awards. Unfortunately, two mailed ballots were received 2.5 weeks later on April 3 after the deadline of receipt. Voting on the final ballot will open during April 2025.
Only Seattle Worldcon 2025 WSFS members will be able to vote on the final ballot and choose the winners for the 2025 Awards. The 2025 Hugo Awards, the Lodestar Award, and the Astounding Award will be presented on Saturday evening, August 16, 2025, at a formal ceremony at Seattle Worldcon 2025.
Questions about the Hugo Awards process may be directed to hugo-help@seattlein2025.org.
* Initial publication had an error of 1,738 ballots instead of the correct number of 1,338.
1078 ballots cast for 554 nominees, finalists range 90 to 157
739 ballots cast for 209 nominees, finalists range 75 to 135
394 ballots cast for 188 nominees, finalists range 36 to 58
610 ballots cast for 673 nominees, finalists range 32 to 110
621 ballots cast for 201 nominees, finalists range 57 to 90
265 ballots cast for 259 nominees, finalists range 13 to 37
A STRONG GEOMAGNETIC STORM IS UNDERWAY: A G3-class (Strong) geomagnetic storm is underway on April 16th, with a slight chance of intensifying to category G4 (Severe). This is happening because a CME hit Earth’s magnetic field on April 15th. It may have been a Cannibal CME–a pile-up of two closely-spaced CMEs, in which one overtook the other. Cannibal CMEs contain shock waves and enhanced magnetic fields that do a good job sparking auroras.
“The CME delivered!” reports Sebastian Sainio from Finland. “It sparked a great, although not so long-lasting show on the night between the 15th and 16th of April.”
“The scenic landscape on the island of Raippaluoto in western Finland gave extra vibe to the photos,” he says. “The water was also exceptionally calm that night.”
If today’s storm persists at current levels (a big IF), auroras would appear across Canada and some northern-tier US states during the night of April 16-17. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
more images: from Gregory Ash of Ely, Minnesota; from Kristian Eli Eli Zachariasen of the Faroe Islands; from Thierry Garcia of Fishburn, Durham, England; from Jeff Dykstra of Búðardalur, Iceland
2025 AURORA AWARDS BALLOT
This ballot is for works originally done in 2024 by Canadians. The Aurora Awards are nominated by members of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA). The top five nominated works were selected. Additional works were included where there was a tie for fifth place. An online awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, August 10th, 2025, at 5pm EDT, with hosts Mark Leslie Lefebvre and Elizabeth May Anderson.
BEST NOVEL
Blackheart Man, Nalo Hopkinson, Saga Press
Pale Grey Dot, Don Miasek, Ravenstone
The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed, Solaris
The Tapestry of Time, Kate Heartfield, Harper Voyager
Withered, A.G.A. Wilmot, ECW Press
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
The Door in Lake Mallion, S.M. Beiko, ECW Press
Heavenly Tyrant, Xiran Jay Zhao, Tundra Books
The Lost Expedition: The Dream Rider Saga, Book 3, Douglas Smith, Spiral Path Books
Misadventures in Ghosthunting, Melissa Yue, Harper Collins
Spaced!, C.L. Carey, Renaissance
BEST NOVELETTE/NOVELLA
The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed, Tordotcom
“Carter’s Refugio“, Hayden Trenholm, Analog SF&F, Sept/Oct
Countess, Suzan Palumbo, ECW Press
The Dragonfly Gambit, A.D. Sui, Neon Hemlock Press
“Zebra Meridian“,Geoffrey W. Cole, Zebra Meridian and Other Stories, Stelliform Press
BEST SHORT STORY
“A World of Milk and Promises“, R H Wesley, Clarkesworld, Issue 216
“And When She Shatters“, Kerry C. Byrne, Heartlines Spec, Issue 4
“Blood and Desert Dreams“, Y.M. Pang, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue 408
“BUDDY RAYMOND’S NO-BULLSHIT GUIDE TO DRONE HUNTING“, Gillian Secord, Diabolical Plots, #108A
“Desolation Sounds“, Geoffrey W. Cole, Zebra Meridian and Other Stories, Stelliform Press
BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL/COMIC
Cemetery Kids Don’t Die vol. 1 (#1-4), Zac Thompson, illustrated by Daniel Irrizari, Gegé Schall, and Brittany Peer, Oni Press
Into the Goblin Market, Vikki VanSickle, illustrated by Jensine Eckwall, Tundra Books
It Never Rains, Kari Maaren, webcomic
Star Trek Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio, IDW Publishing
Wheetago War: Roth, Richard Van Camp, illustrated by Christopher Shy, Renegade Arts Entertainment
A Witch’s Guide to Burning, Aminder Dhaliwal, Drawn and Quarterly
Zatanna: Bring Down the House, Mariko Tamaki, DC Comics
BEST POEM/SONG
“Angakkuq“, Shantell Powell, On Spec Magazine, Vol 24, Issue 130
“Cthulhu on the Shores of Osaka“, Y.M. Pang, Invitation: A One-shot Anthology of Speculative Fiction
“Her Favourite“, Beth Cato and Rhonda Parrish, Star*Line, Vol 47, Issue 4
“Horizon Events“, J.D. Dresner, Polar Starlight, Issue #15
“A Thirst for Adventure“, Lynne Sargent, Polar Borealis, Issue #28
“Trip Through the Robot“, Carolyn Clink and David Clink, Giant Robot Poems: On Mecha-Human Science, Culture & War
BEST RELATED WORK
Augur Magazine Vol 7, Issues 7.1-7.3, Kerry C. Byrne, Toria Liao, André Geleynse, Frankie Hagg, and Conyer Clayton, Augur Society
Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror, Sofia Ajram, Ghoulish Books
Northern Nights, Michael Kelly, Undertow Publications
On Spec Magazine, Vol 34, Issues 127-130, Diane L. Walton Managing Editor, The Copper Pig Writers’ Society
Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Two, Stephen Kotowych, Ansible Press
BEST COVER ART/INTERIOR ILLUSTRATION
Augur Magazine, Issue 7.1, cover art, Martine Nguyen
Augur Magazine Issue 7.2, cover art, Frances Philip
Augur Magazine, Issue 7.3, cover art, Lorna Antoniazzi
Captains of Black and Brass, cover art, James Beveridge, On Spec Magazine, Vol 34, Issue 129
Northern Nights, cover art, Serena Malyon, Undertow Publications
BEST FAN WRITING AND PUBLICATION
Clubhouse Canadian Speculative Fiction reviews, R. Graeme Cameron, Amazing Stories Magazine
James Nicoll Reviews, James Davis Nicoll, online
Polar Starlight Magazine, Issues 13-16, Rhea E. Rose, editor
SF&F Book Reviews, Robert Runté, Ottawa Review of Books
Speculating Canada, Derek Newman-Stille
BEST FAN RELATED WORK
murmurstations, Sonia Urlando, Augur Society, podcast
Scintillation 2024, co-chairs, Jo Walton and René Walling, Montreal
Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi Podcast, Troy Harkin and David Clink
Wizards & Spaceships Podcast, Rachel A. Rosen and David L. Clink
The Worldshapers Podcast, Edward Willett
Ver 1.0, April 15, 2024
GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G2): Geomagnetic storms are likely on April 16th when a pair of closely-spaced CMEs is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field. NOAA forecasters say storm levels could reach category G2 with auroras across Canada and northern-tier US States. The CMEs were hurled toward Earth by a double eruption on the sun; see below.
A DOUBLE ERUPTION ON THE SUN: Explosions on the sun do *not* require sunspots. Spotless explosions occurred twice over the weekend when these two magnetic filaments lifted off the sun:
Magnetic filaments are tubes of dense plasma held above the sun’s surface by magnetic forces. The two pictured above are about 400,000 km long–longer than the distance between Earth and the Moon. These massive structures can erupt when their magnetic underpinnings become unstable. That happened twice in quick succession on April 12th and 13th–a rare double blast.
Fragments of the exploding filaments ripped through the sun’s atmosphere to produce a pair of closely-spaced CMEs, now heading for Earth. A one-two punch from these CMEs could spark a G2-class geomagnetic storm on April 16th. CME impact alerts: SMS Text.
This is Post 2 of 2, marking the conclusion of today’s MonSFFA meeting.
We are grateful to Keith Braithwaite for his efforts on this afternoon’s programming, and thank, too, all of our contributing participants, plus everyone who helped to plan and run today’s meeting. Finally, of course, we thank all of you who joined us, both physically in the meeting hall and here on ZOOM; don’t forget to comment on today’s get-together (www.MonSFFA.ca).
The club meets next on Saturday, May 10, from 1:00PM-5:00PM! We hope to see you live and in person at that time, or if you’re from out of town, online via ZOOM. MonSFFA meets downtown regularly at Le Nouvel Hotel, 1740 Rene-Levesque Ouest (corner St-Mathieu), in the “Maisonneuve Room” (unless otherwise indicated).
Thank you all for taking part today. We appreciate the enthusiastic involvement of our members, and we hope you will all join us again next month! Thus, with today’s main topic soon to slither into our dreams, we’ll say… sssssso long!
1) INTRODUCTIONWelcome to MonSFFA’s April 2025 meeting! This is Post 1 of 2, providing an outline of today’s MonSFFA meeting, and our agenda for the afternoon. A closing post will go up at 5:00PM, marking the end of the meeting.
Despite that blizzard earlier in the week, it is Spring! Take note that we have again been moved into the “Faubourg” room by the hotel, in lieu of our usual “Maisonneuve” room; the Faubourg is just down the hall from the Maisonneuve.
But of course, this is of no consequence to our out-of-town members, who can, and we hope will take part, as always, via ZOOM from the comfort of their own homes. So do join us for a few hours of sci-fi fun! Today’s proceedings will be getting underway shortly.
To join our ZOOM-chat and take part this afternoon, see the instructions, immediately below (Item 2), to join in and participate online.
Our programming agenda begins at 1:00PM; the meeting will conclude at 5:00PM. This opening post has gone up 30 minutes before the meeting’s start time to allow folk to gather online at their leisure. A closing post will go up at 5:00PM to officially thank today’s presenters/discussion moderators, and to publish the date of the next MonSFFA event.
To take part in this afternoon’s meeting online, join our ZOOM video-chat, which will run throughout the next few hours. Simply click here and follow the prompts: This Afternoon’s MonSFFA Meeting on ZOOM
If you’re not fully equipped to ZOOM, you can also take part by phone (voice only); in the Montreal area, the toll-free number to call is: 1-438-809-7799. From out of town? No problem; find your ZOOM call-in number here: Call-In Numbers
Also, have this information on hand as you may be asked to enter it:
Meeting ID: 883 0121 6990
Passcode: 186757
Meeting Theme: In keeping with today’s scheduled presentation, and in honour of the Chinese Year of the Snake, members are asked to bring in for our display table a cool snake toy, SF&F-themed, if possible—rubber or plastic snakes, action figures, a game or puzzle; you get the idea!
Today’s programming agenda is as follows:
1:00PM – Sssssnakes in SF&F!
We look at snakes, snake-like beings, and all things snake-tonishing in SF&F! And there are an awful lot of these slithering subjects!
2:30PM – Break
Club business, including discussion of upcoming group field trip, announcements, and raffle.
3:00PM – Break
What are your top three very best SF&F novels, short fiction, films, and/or TV series? The crème-de-la-crème! We’re asking MonSFFen for their recommendations: the absolutely must-read/must-watch SF&F, best of the best, desert-island material! The stories in one, two, or all four of the categories we’ve outlined which you think others must read or watch before they die; the most memorable, thought-provokingly intelligent, important works of superior SF&F, of high entertainment value and overall quality! That stuff! Let’s discuss.
4:00PM – Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up!
We close the afternoon with final thoughts, questions, and commentary on today’s topics, or other subjects members may have to briefly share with the group. Your feedback, dear members, is always welcome!
5:00PM – End of Meeting
Please Note: While we strive to keep on schedule, we do, sometimes, fall behind a little, or find ourselves having to reshuffle the order of items on the agenda for one reason or another, or reschedule planned presentations/discussions. Therefore, please understand that all programming is subject to change!
MonSFFA’s next meeting is scheduled to take place tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, April 12, from 1:00PM to 5:00PM!
We will convene at our downtown meeting locale, Le Nouvel Hotel, 1740 Rene-Levesque Ouest (corner St-Mathieu).
Please take note: we will be gathering on this occasion, as we did last month, in the “Faubourg” meeting room, just down the hall from our usual “Maisonneuve” room.
Out-of-towners, as always, may join our ZOOM-chat (www.MonSFFA.ca) and take part in the meeting from the comfort of home!
In honour of the Chinese Year of the Snake, we offer an extensive review of snakes, snake-like beings, and all things snake-tonishing in SF&F! And there are an awful lot of these slithering subjects!
What are your top three very best SF&F novels, short fiction stories, films, and television series? The crème-de-la-crème! We’re asking MonSFFen for their recommendations: the absolutely must-read/must-watch SF&F that they believe the best of the best! Desert-island material! The stories in one, two, or all four of the categories we’ve outlined which others must read or watch before they die; the most memorable, thought-provokingly intelligent, important works of superior SF&F, that which is of high entertainment value and overall quality! That stuff! Let’s discuss.
and more…
Meeting Theme: In keeping with today’s scheduled presentation, and in honour of the Chinese Year of the Snake, members are asked to bring in for our display table a cool snake toy, SF&F-themed, if possible—rubber or plastic snakes, action figures, a game or puzzle; you get the idea!
Please Note: While we strive to keep on schedule, we do, sometimes, fall behind a little, or find ourselves having to reshuffle the order of items on the agenda for one reason or another, or reschedule planned presentations/discussions. Therefore, please understand that all programming is subject to change!
