With provocative themes that both rattle and challenge their audiences, films of this nature tend to be quite popular — and for good reason. Not unlike thefor George Orwell鈥檚 dystopian classic “1984,” which is nearly 80 years old, people are looking to literature and movies to give meaning to what’s going on around them.

The films above are some of the best, ranging from paranoid political thrillers like “The Manchurian Candidate,” to聽socially conscious sci-fi flicks like “Planet of the Apes,”听to slyly subversive classics like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”听Most were made in the 1960s, when the nuclear age, Vietnam, partisan divisions, political assassinations,聽civil rights and social change defined American life.

Today’s controversial politics and dramatic cultural shifts continue to provide fertile ground for Hollywood, but only time will tell if modern directors can live up to the giants of the genre.

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Today’s balls are 聽marked by dramatic entrances, first dances, high fashion, celebrities and speeches. There are typically more than one official gala, peaking at聽14 with the second Clinton inaugural in 1997. Meanwhile, there are 聽countless numbers of unofficial balls throughout town inauguration night, typically sponsored by organizations and state groups.

There are three official balls planned for the new President Trump and his wife Melania. Take a look at the pomp and circumstance of inaugural galas through the years.

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From hosting the legendary Wrestlemania IV and V events at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and getting ‘stunned’ by Cold Stone Steve Austin, to shaving the head of WWE CEO Vince McMahon (Linda’s husband) on in a “Battle of the Billionaires” ringside, Trump’s own penchant for political theater and ‘yuge’ entertainment seems like a match made in heaven — or at least for reality TV.

He was even given his own place in the WWE Hall of Fame

In one staged incident, Trump claimed he bought聽 “Monday Night RAW” from the Connecticut-based 聽WWE (formerly World Wrestling Federation) empire built by the McMahons. It turned out to be an elaborate 聽hoax but the, proving that some publicity stunts can have the opposite effect.

Nevertheless, it would seem that after years of trying (Linda McMahon lost two bids for U.S. Senate) to meld two ancient coliseum sports 聽— politics and professional wrestling — together in one spectacular triumph, Trump has done it. Whether Trump’s press conferences with world and congressional leaders will be staged like the infamous of the golden WWF days, remains to be seen.

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, who works full time as director of food and beverage at Stoneleigh Golf & Country Club in Round Hill, Virginia, but helps out on the holidays, stopped by the WTOP newsroom. The Amphora crew filled a table with culinary delights, including a 29-pound turkey.

Baer has the slicing skills of a seasoned sous chef and the strategic thinking of a general, as he advances on the main course and does his magic. Watch the Facebook Live of the event and check out the rest of the feast in the gallery.

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The video is a mere one minute, but in it, the candidate’s wife of 20 years grapples with a familiar marital conundrum: How to get restless hubby out of the house. Nicely.

Daugherty, for his part, is shown grilling for neighbors, helping with the dishes and laundry, all while obsessing with the problems and minutiae of local government 鈥� even using his steak as a prop to illustrate a solution to public transportation. The couple’s real-life friends stand in as his indulgent but clearly bored next-door neighbors and audience.

Daugherty, a Republican, has been the commissioner of Precinct 3 in Travis County, Texas, since 2012 . Check out the video, here:

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WASHINGTON 鈥� While iconoclastic directors like Tim Burton and John Waters grew up imagining聽Vincent Price was their friend, Victoria Price called聽him “dad.”

And as it turns out, the man who so convincingly played sorcerers, rakes, monsters, homicidal maniacs 鈥� even death itself 鈥� was to her, the biggest hero there was.

鈥淗e was a loving, kind, generous, funny, totally un-scary man,鈥� Victoria told聽WTOP of her late father, who died exactly 23 years ago on Oct. 25, 1993 at age 82. 鈥淲e were really close. I was a daddy鈥檚 girl.鈥�

Fans of classic films, especially those of the “fright night” variety, think of Price as a series of well-played characters. His incomparable voice 鈥� a rich mixture of debonair, playful, devilish and foreboding 鈥� was his signature; his angular face and tall frame evoking characters forever associated with dark dungeons, lonely castles and crypts.

But for Victoria, who was born in 1962 when Price聽was 51 and well into his horror heyday, her dad was much more than a 鈥渢itan of terror.鈥� When she was nearly 10, he played Dr. Hubert Whitehead, the paranoid archaeologist who captures Greg, Peter and Bobby Brady and ties them up in his cave during the ““聽two-part TV special in 1972. That was more her speed.

鈥淚 watched the things in which he spoofed himself, but I didn鈥檛 watch the things where he scared people 鈥� I just couldn鈥檛 do it. I was an impressionable kid,鈥� said Victoria, now an accomplished interior designer, art consultant, public speaker聽and author who听辫耻产濒颈蝉丑别诲 in 1999, with an update in 2014, as a labor of love.

鈥淚t just frankly scared me too much,鈥� she said of her father鈥檚 movies, which, by the time she was old enough to watch, included the twisted 鈥�,鈥� 鈥�“聽and 鈥�.鈥�

She saw none of them, and for his part, Price left his work at the studio.

鈥淲hen people said my dad was scary, I was like, 鈥楢re you kidding?鈥�” she said. “It seemed unbelievable to me that anyone would be scared of this totally sweet man.鈥�

Now in her 50s, Victoria聽has easily assumed the caretaker role of his legacy, which she celebrates with both ease and dedication. She is often called upon to talk about Vincent Price and she does so enthusiastically. She knows that it is more than just his movies that keep his popularity alive.

鈥淲hen he was alive, people called him a renaissance man,” she said. “I think that was a way to package him, the fact that he loved so many things. He was curious about so many things.聽People who love my dad get that; they get all of him.鈥�

Starting out as a fine arts scholar at Yale聽and the聽University of London, Price had the pedigree of pilgrims and wealth of early American entrepreneurs, but wound聽up taking another path. Acting took him onto the screen during the Golden Age of Hollywood, where he often played secondary roles, though in his very first film,聽(1938),听he shared the marquee with actress Constance Bennett.

He soon distinguished himself as a scene chewer, both as a villain and comic relief, upstaging聽Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell as ham actor Mark Cardigan (some say himself!) in the 1951 crime drama聽 He鈥檚 top-billed with the other two and for a reason 鈥� Price has the heft to carry a film, in fact, his scenes are arguably the best in the movie. He鈥檚 outlandish and compelling, playing an ultimately charming fool, accessible and funny.

It鈥檚 his ability to take the gentleman rogue and charming third man to new levels, while at the same time be relatable to the viewing public, that put him on a path of success. He was a standout at a time when Hollywood was pumping out conventional screen idols as if on an assembly line.

So it’s no surprise, says daughter Victoria, that he fell naturally into the emerging new horror era of the 1950s, helping make (1953) one of the most popular scary movies of all time.

鈥淲hen he discovered Gothic villainy in the 1940s, he loved it,鈥� she said, pointing to聽his first foray playing the high-handed landowner to Gene Tierney鈥檚 ing茅nue in (1946), which reunited Tierney and Price just聽two years after Otto Preminger’s聽film-noir classic “Laura” (1944).

Later, Price turned out to be perfect for Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, of which he did eight with director Roger Corman, the master of the low-budget yet sumptuous Gothic horror production.

鈥淲orking with Corman was a chance to work in that genre, to have his name forever associated with probably the greatest original American literary voice (Poe), and also a chance to keep working and staying current, when so many of his peers were not,鈥� she told WTOP.

Indeed, while many of Price鈥檚 peers from the Golden Age were playing fathers in teeny-bopper films or finding sanctuary in war movies and westerns, Price was able to flex his chops on an expanding Hollywood canvas. Once filmmaking began to transform with the Hollywood renaissance of the ’60s, the old studio system gone and counterculture setting in, Price, like everything else, embraced it.

鈥淗e was somebody who wanted to be current, was interested in what was current, not just to be popular, but it was about being alive in the world, in the moment, and I think that is a really interesting, important aspect about my dad,鈥� Victoria said, adding that he surrounded himself with 鈥減eople who loved life,鈥� no matter what age or background.

This was no more evident than in his brilliant聽 in 1982, introducing a new generation to his talents.

鈥淚 think that was something he did really well 鈥� he bridged eras,” she said.

He dove into his projects and never sneered at ludicrous, cheesy characters or plots, never winked at the audience to suggest it was all joke.

鈥淗e felt the job of an actor was to make the unbelievable, believable 鈥� he actually said that,鈥� she said.聽鈥淣o matter how ‘far out’ what he was doing [was], people bought into it because they wanted to buy into it and that is a unique thing because, let鈥檚 be honest, the things he was doing were way out there, very outlandish.鈥�

In a first broadcast on Turner Classic Movies in 2013, director John Waters, who said 鈥樷�淗ouse on Haunted Hill鈥� actually inspired his own pioneering career, noted, 鈥淗e was not campy. Campy suggests someone is so bad they are good. Vincent Price was so great he was perfect.鈥�

He also described Price as 鈥渘ever pretentious 鈥� the audiences who went to see him were all inclusive, from the poorest people to the richest. Nobody disliked him.鈥�

Price would have surely liked that line, as he was also known to have fully embraced social justice and civil rights long before others caught on. He came out early against Nazism in the ’30s, spurned segregation and hate in the ’50s, and when Victoria came out as gay in her adulthood, he gave her his full understanding and love.

鈥淗e was somebody who really did not see difference 鈥� he saw us all as being connected and one, and he was a populist,” she said. “He was anti-elitist, he was tolerant and accepting and聽kind and promoted freedom of all kinds. What a gift to grow聽up with someone like that.鈥�

With Victoria, he shared his other great passions 鈥� art and cooking. He and her mother would travel the world and brought back many of the amazing recipes of the period, from the Tuscan countryside to the best restaurants in Paris and Holland and Scandinavia.

Their gorgeously packaged ““ (1965) is now in its second printing and is considered a classic. It is not only filled with recipes but international, original menus and glossy photographs of the dining rooms, food, kitchens and the Price couple, wholly engaged in culinary learning and the delicacies of the times.

鈥淚t was the eighth most popular out-of-print book of any kind. That鈥檚 why we did the 50th anniversary edition last year,鈥� Victoria said.

The couple鈥檚 1965 book “Come into the Kitchen” is slated for a . Given the enormous amount of celebrity and niche cookbooks over the decades, what鈥檚 the enduring appeal?

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a time capsule,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it captured who my dad was, that he was this omnivorous human being 鈥� and I don鈥檛 just mean in regards to food. He just wanted to eat life up. I really feel that it鈥檚 kind of what still makes it so alive, that comes through. The 鈥榓liveness鈥� comes through.鈥�

Price was also a voracious art collector and patron, founding聽the 聽in 1957聽deliberately聽in East Los Angeles to promote art to the less advantaged. Price’s daughter is a board member at the museum, which holds聽more than聽9,000 works in three buildings and provides an arts program for students at East Los Angeles College each year, including a new performing and fine arts center.

Toward the end of his life, father and daughter were as close as ever, their love for the creative arts a lifelong bond.

鈥淪o many kids struggle to have their parents鈥� support in what they want to do,” she said. “How fortunate am I?鈥�

She recalled a letter her father聽sent her shortly before his death, sharing how happy he was that their friendship kept growing.

“I loved reading that,” she said. “It was such an acknowledgment of what I always felt, but to see it from him was wonderful.”

It was a bittersweet moment to share the stage with her father on his last film, Tim Burton’s聽(1990).聽Burton, who once said Price鈥檚 movies had carved out a special role for his idol Price, not knowing his character’s death in the movie would precede his real-life death to Parkinson鈥檚 disease and emphysema just a few years later.

鈥淚 love that [the聽movie] is there, but it is definitely emotional for me,” said Victoria, who played a bit聽part as a newscaster. “It’s so much him at the end of his life.”

Today, she tends a devoted to her dad聽and fields the many letters from people who, like Burton and Waters, say her father inspired them in immeasurable聽ways.

鈥淲hat a gift for me, to share someone I loved so much, my dad, with other people,” she said.

And what a gift that is for the rest of us.

See the gallery above for Price’s best Halloween roles. Listen to the full interview with Victoria Price below.

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg caused a minor ripple in the social media time continuum when he casually announced in a Facebook Live posting that meat is so much tastier when you kill the animal yourself:

Looking relaxed before a California backdrop that looked like EveryBackyard USA 鈥� a grill and smoker in the back, friends milling about and chiming in, chairs that Facebook commenters declared “cheap, just like mine” — Zuckerberg reiterated his love for hunting and enjoying meat better when you know where it comes from.

鈥淚 think half of the joy is that things taste better when you make them yourself. They taste doubly better when you鈥檝e hunted the animal yourself,鈥� he said to an audience of millions tuned in for his 30-minute “grill talk.”

鈥淪o whether you鈥檙e fishing for salmon or going hunting for a boar, that鈥檚 a big part of it.”

The Facebook co-founder and CEO, who is not averse to posts about his wife, Priscilla, and baby, Maxima, as well as social issues, faith and everyday life, posted the live video just before Sunday’s presidential debate. On the most part, comments were positive, and on Twitter, some have been a bit incredulous:

Raise your hand if you thought was a hunting, meat eating, meat smoking, bbq master…..

鈥� SmashingTrumpkins (@Spicoli83)

But it wasn’t the first time we met Zuckerberg, man of the future and man of the neolithic. In 2011, he 聽to only eat what he kills

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Their message: Clown Lives Matter.

“This is a peaceful way to show clowns are not psycho killers,鈥� reads a flyer seen in Tucson, where a march of professional聽clowns has been planned for Oct. 15, according to .

for making threats of school violence on social media accounts related to clowns, two students in Prince George’s County, Maryland, after threats forced police to increase security at schools there on Monday. Threats were reported in Fairfax and Arlington counties in Virginia, as well.

In each case, police said they do not believe the threats were credible, but they聽caused major disruptions at the schools. Officials in Loudoun County, Virginia, were forced to reiterate there is in the county 鈥� all because of the creepy-clown theme pervading the headlines.

The stories don’t just involve social media threats. Since the summer, reports of people dressed as clowns giving people the heebie-jeebies have been growing to something close to mass clown聽hysteria. Reports that clowns are trying to lure children into the woods in North Carolina聽. And the stories, coupled with threats, are spreading, with reports stretching from Idaho to Connecticut, according to a timeline and map,

Meanwhile, a woman in Concord, California, and tried to grab her 1-year-old daughter. Closer to home,聽a woman in Fredericksburg, Virginia, reported 聽that a “clown” wearing green hair and “growling” approached and touched her arm while she was sitting in her car with the windows down on a busy street. Police are investigating.

Police have also arrested people across the country, with making false reports about clown sightings.

All this has had a negative impact on the legitimate clown profession, say advocates. One clown in the D.C. area that it’s actually costing her business.

As for the Clown Lives Matter march in Tuscon, they aren’t clowning around. Professional clowns are asked to come in full makeup, costume and gear, according to the flyer.

鈥淲e want the public to feel safe, and not be afraid. So come out, bring the family, meet a clown and get a hug!”

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In fact, recent political history shows they can be quite entertaining — if not decisive. Take a look:

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Arianna Huffington, 66, says in a tweet that she will step down from the media company she helped to foster since its launch in 2005 to start Thrive Global, a new online health and wellness startup.

I thought HuffPost would be my last act. But I鈥檝e decided to step down as HuffPost鈥檚 editor-in-chief to run my new venture, Thrive Global.

鈥� Arianna Huffington (@ariannahuff)

 

Co-founded by the late Andrew Breitbart (of the conservative ), Jonah Peretti (founder of) and Kenneth Lerer (founder of )听 has become a platform for mostly liberal politics, lifestyle, entertainment, business and media and technology news, with various international editions, original reporting, and celebrity contributors. It was purchased by AOL in 2011 for $315 million and is currently owned by Verizon Communications.

Huffington, a Greek-American businesswoman who ran unsuccessfully for California governor in 2003, was聽a public supporter of the so-called Republican Revolution in the 1990s, when she was married to California Republican Rep. Michael Huffington. They divorced in 1997. She has been an advocate for Democratic causes ever since, and this year聽was listed No. 70聽on the聽Forbes聽Most Powerful Women in the World list.

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Many of the animals born and bred at the zoo are genetically valuable for the preservation of their species. “Every species is important. As we lose more species, it’s got a cascading effect,” said biologist Matt Evans, assistant curator of reptiles and amphibians at National Zoo鈥檚 Reptile Discovery Center. “It affects how the ecosystem works.”

The zoo is working to address numerous global conservation challenges. There’s a fungus-borne illness, for example, called amphibian chytrid that has devastated nearly 100 frog species worldwide. “We are doing a lot of research with the fungus, trying to figure out how frogs might be able to build up an immune response and resistance to it,” Evans said.

Worldwide, one-third to one-half of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction.

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WASHINGTON 鈥� Most older fans of the movie-riffing comedy series 鈥淢ystery Science Theater 3000鈥� probably don鈥檛 recall the first time they saw their first episode. Like the iconic 鈥淪atellite of Love,”听the dog bone-shaped ship, foam planet logo and familiar “MST3K” stage set, it kind of floated into public consciousness somewhere in the ’90s, docked and never left.

With a generous circulation of the show鈥檚 10 seasons on YouTube, streaming and boxed sets, the S.O.L. never has to leave. Furthermore, fans insist the humor transcends 鈥渢ime and space鈥� 鈥斅燼nd it does. Save for random references to moldy headlines 鈥� a Nancy Kerrigan here, a Trent Lott there 鈥� the cast has taken what turns out to be a into a universal sphere.

Simply put, “MST3K” never grows old.

For those unfamiliar with the format: three regular characters 鈥� one human (Joel in the early years, Mike the later seasons) and two robots (Tom Servo and Crow) are trapped in space. Villains (“The Mads” in the early years, “Pearl Forrester” & Co. in the Mike years) force them to 鈥渨atch cheesy movies, the worst I can find,鈥� to which the main characters add their arch, irreverent and silly goofball聽commentary. In between, live-action comedy segments and one-off skits feature聽a rotating mix of bots, aliens, apes and other characters, burnishing a continuing story thread.

With its progenitors in the dating back to the 1950s, “MST” started聽riffing in the movies聽with the ironic humor that has since taken over the cultural zeitgeist. Fans geek out on the sophisticated references (and if they don鈥檛 get a few, so what, they still sound funny), while blissfully indulging in charmingly puerile humor at the same time. The segments are an homage to sci-fi galore 鈥� everything from “Star Trek” and “Planet of the Apes” to modern sitcoms, history and pop-culture absurdities. The writing is super clever, without glamour or pretension. Just a group of Midwestern guys whose droll, mom鈥檚 basement sensibility jibed with the age and brought us all along for the ride.

But “MST3K” 鈥斅爓ith creator Joel Hodgson, Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy (robot Servo),聽Bill Corbett (robot Crow) and the assorted cast 鈥� has never slipped so far into nostalgia that it鈥檚 become mere sci-fi memorabilia. After the “MSTK3” era, which began on local KMTA in Minneapolis in 1988, moved to Comedy Central in 1989, and ended on Syfy in 1999, its various components pushed further into burgeoning online frontiers.

Most successfully, was launched in 2006, with Nelson, Murphy and Corbett聽riffing old and new movies with a new concept that avoided the expensive task of securing the rights to films by merely recording 鈥渞iffing tracks.鈥� Users rent their own copies of the films and sync the downloaded track (for a tiny fee) with the movie while it plays on screen. This allows for the “MST” experience, but with new bad (and not so bad) movies 鈥� from to 鈥�听鈥斅�and more recently big-budget favorites like and

The new concept not only won over a new generation of fans, it also enabled its creators to try new things, producing new online B-movies and shorts, riffing specials with NatGeo, and Live Shows 鈥� something the “Sharknado” franchise

Meanwhile, RiffTrax has brought in some of the old regulars from the “MST” era, like Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl), Bridget J. Nelson and assorted comedians for riffing on various projects. Hodgson, who went his own way after leaving the S.O.L., has embarked on various ventures like the live events. More recently, he crowdsourced more than $5 million for a that’s already begun filming and will include Hodgson with comedians Jonah Ray, Patton Oswalt and Felicia Day.

Which brings us to . The full cast will come together for the first time since Mike and Joel鈥檚 overlap episode 23 years ago. The much-anticipated RiffTrax Live event (also marking RiffTrax鈥檚 10th anniversary) will be broadcast from a sold-out State Theater in Minneapolis, where it all started, to venues all over the country (click聽for tickets聽in your area). The show will include Hodgson, Nelson, Murphy, Corbett, Pehl, Nelson, Trace Beaulieu (鈥淒r. Forrester鈥�), Frank Conniff (鈥淭V鈥檚 Frank鈥�) and Jonah Ray for an evening of shorts and a 鈥渞iffapalooza鈥� finale.

Yes, this is partly a nostalgia event. The rows of seats in theaters across the country will certainly be filled with Boomers and Gen-Exers who grew up with “MST3K” and continued watching long after it was lamentably dropped by Syfy 17 years ago. From its time as an old-fashioned fan club (the P.O. Box always appeared in the last few minutes of every episode), the “MSTie” community has slowly metastasized into a bona fide fandom of geeks, B-film buffs and AV club refugees, soaking up the shrewd blend of humor with a side of cornball slacker bliss.

They鈥檝e been waiting for this for a long time, and the experience will, no doubt, be out of this world.

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WASHINGTON 鈥� Fifty聽years ago, “Star Trek” beamed into living rooms for the first time, launching one of the most successful franchises in the galaxy and a decades-long love affair for pioneers across space, discovering new worlds and beings, and navigating the shoals of interstellar relationships.

While science and technology inspired the show, “Star Trek” has the unique honor of who were in turn able to advance human capabilities far beyond stardate Sept. 8, 1966. That’s the date when the first episode, “The Man Trap,” launched this pioneering TV program into the collective consciousness.

Yahoo 太子探花 science columnist Andrew聽Fazekas, who also writes the column for NationalGeographic.com, has written a new book that puts the science聽of “Star Trek” in context for the modern reader. “Star Trek: The Official Guide to Our Universe”聽is part textbook, part fan fun,聽part actionable guide to Fazekas’s favorite topic: the stars.

“I wanted to get people really excited about when they’re watching the show, by really being able to research the reality and the connection with reality, the technology concepts, the science concepts and particularly the idea of being able to go out and then look at the objects themselves 鈥� take your own cosmic adventure in your backyard,” Fazekas told WTOP.

Those “objects” invariably include planets, stars, comets, black holes, quasars, dwarfs and more, which Fazekas lays out in colorful tutorials, not only about what they are, but the roles they often play in the series and the best times to see them in the night sky.

Probably the most fun is seeing how the “Star Trek” science of the 1960s 鈥� as well as the show’s later incarnations like聽“The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” “Voyager” and “Enterprise” —听measure up to modern realities.

In many cases, it holds up uncannily good, the book notes. Laser technology is advancing in the military and GPS is now the “locator” of today. Communicators are cellphones, while hypospray and FitBits are tools that up until now we’ve only seen in the starship’s sick bays. 3D printers are yet another step toward replicators, and those view screens used for intergalactic diplomacy? Now we have Skype. What’s more, virtual reality is on its way to becoming a sort of holodeck of the future.

“Look at where we are today 鈥� we have smartphones that hearken back directly to Kirk’s flip phone, or the medial tricorder that Dr. McCoy would use during their adventures on planets, being able to diagnose聽people on the fly,” Fazekas said.聽“[Today] we’ve got wristwatch bands that can tell your聽pulse rate and your blood pressure, and tools for diabetics to monitor sugar levels.”

“It’s playing out what ‘Star Trek’ had. I think the appeal has always been there because it always seemed like we were on the edge of fulfilling these visionary visions that ‘Star Trek’ had. And it’s true, all of these scientists and engineers聽have been inspired directly by it, and it’s no accident that some of these devices, the technologies today, really look like they did in the ‘Star Trek’ series.”

Listen to the full interview with author Andrew Fazekas below:

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Proving it’s never too late to start a family, Janet Jackson, now 49, is pregnant with her first child, according to聽, which broke the story on Wednesday. 聽She turns 50 on May 16.

The singer, who rocked the Billboard Charts in the 1980s and 90s with break-out albums like “Control” and “Rhythm Nation,” said in April that she was at the urging of her doctor, as she was “family planning,” but did not confirm anything more.

Jackson has mentioned her desire to have children in the past. 聽She聽secretly wed Al Mana, 41, in 2012, but didn’t confirm the news until early 2013, according to ET. This is the singer鈥檚 third marriage.

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