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Science Fiction in the News Articles
Related to material in Cities in Flight
by James Blish

Cities in Flight is really four separate novels; They Shall Have Stars (1957), A Life for the Stars (1962), Earthman Come Home (1955) and The Triumph of Time (1958). The period of time spanned by these four novels adds up to many hundreds of years. The books all derive their plot from a single great idea - the spindizzy, a gravity polarizer that allows entire cities to break free of the Earth and leave for the stars. This is a great science-fiction novel; it has wonderful inventions, well-written characters, and remarkable political sophistication.

Science fiction in the News articles describe real-world events that relate to the ideas and inventions in sf novels and movies. Select a news article:

Biotech Firms Raised $Millions For Anti-Agathics (Longevity Drugs)
   'Against Death doth no simple grow.' - James Blish, 1957.

RocketScore Tells You Your SAT Essay Score
   You now have an online teacher and evaluator - RocketScore, the artificially intelligent grader that provides a prediction of the score your essay will get on the SAT.

Robonaut ISS Checkout Video
   Amazing video of a teleoperated robot on the International Space Station; sf authors saw this a half-century ago.

Robot English Teacher From KAIRA
   A robotic english teacher is now being used in pilot programs in Seoul, Korea.

AMANDA May Find Probes To Other Dimensions
   The AMANDA neutrino array team may have some positive results in the use of high-energy neutrinos in proving the existence of higher dimensions.

Artificial Gravity Generator Now Possible?
   Scientists have sneered at artificial gravity generators for the last 75 years. These ESA-sponsored experiments may have generated the first artificial gravity fields.

ULTra PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) Planned For London
   The ULTra is back in the news, this time at Heathrow airport.

MindMentor Computer-Based Psychotherapy
   Does the Eliza computer therapy method actually work? Two Dutch psychiatrists think so.

Lessons To Be Downloaded Into Brains Of Schoolchildren
   Forward-thinking schoolmen get a jolt from the Matrix.

Polaris Poker AI Defeats Humans, Rakes In $195K
   Interesting shift in strategy brings victory to Polaris, the winner in the Man-Machine Poker Competition held in Las Vegas this weekend.

'Virtual Space Station' NASA Software Psychologist
   This software suite provides a therapist - or group therapy - on a DVD; perfect for long space voyages, which can be stressful.

Emdrive Electromagnetic Drive For Chinese Space Ships?
   Is this technology a physical impossibility? The Chinese space program is determined to find out.

'Thinking Cap' Now With TMS Coil
   Sydney researchers try using transcranial magnetic stimulation to improve ordinary people, with anecdotal results. SF writers love this idea.

Brain Stimulation Enhances Motor Skill Learning
   Any shortcuts to learning are appreciated; when can we get it in a convenient helmet form?

ULTra Personal Pod Driverless Taxis Here!
   This driverless taxi apparently lacks a depressed robotic driver; it drives itself.

Computer, Heal Thyself - With ClearView
   When you can read about an idea fifty years before it's implemented (and in an entertaining story to boot), that's good value.

AI Identifies Suicidal Behavior With 93 Percent Accuracy
   '...He padded into the living room, and seated himself by the suitcase; he opened it, clicked switches, and turned on Dr. Smile.' - Philip K. Dick, 1965.

Your Computer Therapist Will See You Now
   Computers are more helpful than ever.

Electric Brain Stimulation Quickens Learning
   Faster learning is as close as the nearest electrical outlet.

DecNef: Download Skills Into Your Brain
   Click here to download your next career.

Fear of Dentists App, iPhone-based Therapist
   'The machines aren't ignorant of human psychology - far from it.'

Russia's SAR-400 To Work Alongside Robonaut 2
   'For a wild instant he had thought there was a man on Jupiter already...'

Mahoro Two-Armed Lab Robot
   '...He realized that the moving thing inside was - of course - a robot.'

NASA's Robotic Rover Drivers
   'Helmuth, after all, was not on Jupiter - though that was becoming harder and harder for him to bear in mind.'

Google Vs. Death
   Who wants to live forever?

Multi-Party Quantum Communication Possible
   'The cops have heard every word... wherever in the whole universe that there's a Dirac transceiver.'- James Blish, 1957.

SETI Workshop On Communicating Across The Cosmos
   '...heard every word, not only locally, but wherever in the whole universe that there's a Dirac transceiver'- James Blish, 1957.

Meet Samsung's SmartTV Telescreen
   'The City Fathers overheard everything one said...' - James Blish, 1957.

Students Control Lab Experiments Remotely Via App
   'Hello, Europa... Is this your robot I'm looking at, in sector 94?'- James Blish, 1957.

Will The Dashboard Disappear From Autonomous Cars?
   'No controls and no instruments...' - James Blish, 1957.

EHang 184 AAV Passenger Drone Future Of Commuting?
   'The cab was an egg-shaped bubble...' - James Blish, 1957.

Human Academics Recommend AIs As Teachers
   '... the torrent of facts that came from the memory cells of the City Fathers...' - James Blish, 1957.

The Remotely-Operated Cold Atom Laboratory
   'Hello, Europa... Is this your robot I'm looking at?' - James Blish, 1957.

Human-Carrying Drone Taxi 184 Approved For Test Flights
   'The cab was an egg-shaped bubble...' - James Blish, 1957.

Vahana, The Airbus Flying Taxi
   'The cab came floating down out of the sky at the intersection.'

Elections In Science Fiction
   'WE ARE READY TO PROCEED WITH THE TABULATION.' - James Blish, 1957.

Griff 300 Octocopter Carries You And Friend
   'The cab came floating down out of the sky...' - James Blish, 1957.

Cormorant Flying Car
   'The cab came floating down out of the sky...' - James Blish, 1957.

Will The FDA Approve This Antiaging Drug?
   'So what we're looking for now is... an anti-agathic, an anti-death drug.' - James Blish, 1951.

China Uses Artificial Intelligence To Grade Student Papers
   Looks like the City Fathers are starting to take over China's education system.

Audi Pop.Up Autonomous Electric Flying Car
   'The cab was an egg-shaped bubble of light metals and plastics...' - James Blish, 1957.

Shrimp Actually Made Of Algae Is A New Wave Food
   Bring in that crop algae.

China's Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Education
   'The grey gas not only cut off his vision, but also his other senses...' - James Blish, 1951.

CIMON Companion Robot For Space Station Astronauts
   '... in some departments their power is absolute.' - James Blish, 1957.

Unwanted Cruise Ships Huddle Together Out At Sea
   'On the screen they passed in an endless, boundaryless flood of green specks...' - James Blish, 1957.

Altos Labs' Bezos Wants An Anti-Agathic (To Live Forever)
   'So what we're looking for now is... an anti-agathic, an anti-death drug.' - James Blish, 1957.

Microbial Protein Production More Efficient Than Crops
   'It's the food situation I'm worried about...' - James Blish, 1950.

AI Tutors For Every Child - Thanks, DARPA!
   '...fullest attention to the visions and voices which were poured directly in to his mind.' - James Blish, 1951.

Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You
   ''OVERRIDE,' the City Fathers said suddenly, without being asked anything at all.' - James Blish, 1951.

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