LONDON (AP) – A newspaper survey of scientists has chosen “Blade Runner” as the world’s best science fiction.

The 1982 movie was the favorite when 60 scientists were questioned by The Guardian, including evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, the newspaper said Wednesday.

In the film, a retired cop played by Harrison Ford hunts down renegade human replicates in a dark futuristic vision of Los Angeles.

Stephen Minger, a stem cell biologist at King’s College, London, said the movie was the best he had ever seen.

“It was so far ahead of its time and the whole premise of the story – what is it to be human and who are we, where we come from. It’s the age-old questions,” he said.

Stanley Kubrick’s epic, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” came in a close second, followed by the first two films of George Lucas’ Star Wars trilogy: “Star Wars” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”

The others chosen, in descending order, were “Alien,” “Solaris (1972 version),” “Terminator,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “War of the Worlds,” “The Matrix,” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Asked to pick their favorite authors, the scientists chose: Isaac Asimov, “I, Robot”; John Wyndham, “Day of the Triffids and Chocky”; and Fred Hoyle, “The Black Cloud.”

The other writers chosen, in descending order, were Philip K. Dick, H.G. Wells, Ursula Le Guin, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert and Stanislaw Lem.

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Britney in video causes stir

NEW YORK (AP) – Britney Spears’ former backup dancer and current fiance Kevin Federline can add another title to his resume: co-star.

On Wednesday, a Jive Records publicist confirmed Federline is featured in Spears’ upcoming “My Prerogative” video, set to debut in mid-September. The song, one of two new tracks off the pop star’s upcoming greatest hits CD, is a cover of Bobby Brown’s 1980s hit.

According to a message posted by Britney’s mother, Lynne Spears, on the singer’s official Web site, fans can also expect a cameo by another man close to the “Toxic” diva: her brother. Lynne tells fans to “look for that good-looking hunk of a son of mine,” who has a cameo at the beginning of the video.

She also said the video is “going to be like none other.” Because of an injury sustained during the shooting of another video, Spears’ mom wrote, “Britney’s knee is unable to do choreography, the video is all about capturing gorgeous close-ups and very subtle movement.”

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Roy Horn gives thumbs up

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Roy Horn made a rare public appearance on the Las Vegas Strip, signaling thumbs-up from his wheelchair at a Cuban revue he and partner Siegfried Fischbacher are co-producing.

“He stayed for the whole show and loved it,” Dave Kirvin, a spokesman for Siegfried & Roy said Wednesday, adding that Horn met with “Havana Night Club” cast members after the Tuesday night performance.

Horn returned to Las Vegas last weekend from Denver, where he spent two weeks at Craig Hospital, a rehabilitation center for stroke and trauma victims.

The 59-year-old entertainer suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed after a near-fatal mauling by a trained white tiger during a live performance Oct. 3 at The Mirage hotel-casino. The attack forced an end to the long-running Siegfried & Roy show.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has been trying to obtain a video that Feld Entertainment, the company that produced the Siegfried & Roy act, shot the night of the fateful show. The company has refused to release it.

Siegfried & Roy are also involved in an animated television show, “Father of the Pride,” that debuts next week on NBC.

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