Star Trek Perfume: The Final Frontier

One-of-a-kind scent features 'lime, verbena, and grass'

(NEWSER) - Holy water de cologne? Boutique perfume maker Silvana Casoli has created a special cologne for the famously well-dressed Pope Benedict XVI, featuring "hints of lime tree, verbena, and grass" based on the pope's love of nature, reports the Guardian . But don't try to find this unique blend at your local Macy's; it's made exclusively for the Bishop of Rome. "I would not ever repeat the same perfume for another customer," says Casoli. More»

DARPA offering $500,000 to space innovators

(NEWSER) - Is it possible that Star Trek and a sci-fi story written by Jules Verne more than 100 years ago will inspire the next generation of space technologies? DARPA, the research and development division of the US military, sure hopes so. In fact, the agency has promised to award $500,000 this fall to the group that has the best plan to make interstellar travel a reality within 100 years, reports the LA Times . To get the ideas flowing, DARPA will host a symposium featuring all manner of space aficionados, from astrophysicists to sci-fi writers, in Florida next month . More»

At 79, he's leaving the stage for good

(NEWSER) - Don't expect to see Leonard Nimoy in the Star Trek sequel now in the works for 2012. The 79-year-old tells the Toronto Sun he's retiring from all acting gigs—including Spock—for good. "I've been doing this professionally for 60 years,” he says. “I want to get off the stage." After a few more sci-fi conventions he's got booked, he'll be done with those, too. More»

(NEWSER) - It’s been a long time since James Kirk set out on his 5-year mission, and those early voyages may look cheesy, low-budget, or even sexist now. But “the original Star Trek still has a passion and vitality,” writes Andrew O’Hehir of Salon. “It stands out, even after all this time, as something unique in television history.” With the Cold War raging, creator Gene “Roddenberry imagined a radical-progressive, Enlightenment-fueled vision of the human future.” More»

Abrams' bold reinvention of franchise will please both longtime fans and newbies

(NEWSER) - JJ Abrams has boldly pulled off the almost impossible with his stellar reinvention of Star Trek and made a movie that will wow both newcomers and hardcore Trekkies, critics say.

• Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: The prequel "is more exciting than the last four ST pictures put together, more fun than a barrel of Tribbles, and the most satisfying action-adventure since last year's Iron Man."