Science Fiction in the News:
Science and Technology News

Snake-Arm Robots From OCRobotics Reach Out
Nifty snake-arm joy-stick controlled robot can find its way into a variety of tight spaces. (re: Various)

Stereo Omnidirectional System Intelligent Wheelchair
No blind spots and 360 degree vision - this wheelchair sees it all. (re: Robert Silverberg)

Boeing Thermal Protection System For Orion
Boeing will develop an ablative heat shield for the Orion space craft. (re: E.E. 'Doc' Smith)

Robot Skin Soft Like Yours
Artificial robot skin now smooth and soft, just like you've always dreamed robot skin would feel. (re: Various)

Planetary Annihilation Chances 'Totally Miniscule'
Black holes generated beneath the Earth's surface? I sense no danger here... (re: David Brin)

SwisTrack Swarm Analysis Of Robots And Roaches
Swarms need to be studied - this tool can be used on insects or robots. (re: Various)

Terranaut - Fish Explore Land With Robotic Vehicle
Ah, nothing like going for your first drive. Especially when you're a fish. On land. (re: Vernor Vinge)

Russian Power Boots Can Use Biofuels
These Power Boots are dangerously cool, in fact and in fiction. (re: Charles Stross)

Toyota Robot Leg Has Bird-Like Vertical Leap
Robotic leg achieves early NBA verticals, but its pretty good for a robot. (re: Martin Caidin)

Long Range Stunners - Again
Another long range stun weapon - actually, Jules Verne had this one first. (re: Jules Verne)

BluScreen Minority Report Ads
Minority Report-style ads are back again; we may not be able to avoid this one. (re: Steven Spielberg)

Saddam's Supergun And Verne's Columbiad
It appears that Impey Barbicane of the Baltimore Gun Club and Saddam Hussein had more in common that I would have thought possible. (re: Jules Verne)

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

Silicon-Based Lifeforms: Hortas In The Deeps
A prominent iconoclastic scientist argues that silicon-based life may exist. (re: Gene L. Coon)

Lethal Frisbee UAV Robots
Modular Disc-Wing (Frisbee) Urban Cruise Munitions are on their way, thanks to the USAF. (re: Various)

Pipeline Explorer Untethered Robotic Snake
Amazing robotic pipeline inspection device is a real snakebot. (re: Various)

Icuity iWear iPod Video Glasses
Remarkable realization of the videoshades from the cyberpunk sf era. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Virtual Arms Dealers Arrested
Virtual gun-running now a problem in China. (re: Various)

Nokia Silence Booth - Shh!
If only someone would install these everywhere... (re: Robert Heinlein)

Miuro Autonomous Music Robot
Rather than outfitting your house with speakers in every room, why not have a stereo that follows you around? (re: Herbert Goldstone)

Roentgenizdat: X-Ray Bones Jazz Recordings
Amazing find from the old Soviet union - nothing held jazz fans back in those days. (re: Various)

Trashcan Surveillance - Halt! Who Throws There?
No science fiction writer ever thought of putting spy chips in garbage cans - it takes bureaucrats to do that. (re: )

Lo-Tek Book Reading (In Bed) Stand
How to read a heavy book in bed hands-free. The anwer comes from Japan. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Scrollbars and Selections Make User Interface Art Scene
Here's an artist who takes graphic user interface items and imposes them on the real world in the name of art. (re: Various)

Tachikoma Robot Jumping Spider Tank
They're cute! They're jumping spider killer robot tanks. (re: Various)

VeriMed Implanted RFID Dogtags Studied By Military, VeriChip
Not a pleasant story, but this science-fictional possibility is being studied by the US military. (re: Jack Vance)

Robotic Carps Swims Realistically In London
Video of autonomous fishbot carp reveals fishlike robotic success. (re: Michael Swanwick)

TM9 Turf Mat Grass Roof (And Living Room Carpet?)
I think Vonnegut's (and Heinlein's) grass carpets are now just about ready - in easy-to-use carpet tile form. (re: Kurt Vonnegut)

Pong Dress
The Pong Dress implements the classic video game in a fashion plate setting. (re: Philip K. Dick)

ARMAR Humanoid Robot For The Kitchen
Okay, Roomba and Scooba are doing the floors. Now, what about the dishes? That is up to ARMAR, the kitchen bot. (re: William Gibson)

WT-6 Waseda Talking Robot Head From Neuromancer
Japanese roboticists are working hard on the talking head from Neurmancer - the one that talks without synth chips. (re: William Gibson)

Cyberviolence A Growing Web Trend In South Korea
Rumors and attacks on individuals by groups of Internet users is now a serious problem in South Korea. (re: John Brunner)

Information-Free Zones Future Vacation Spot
Interesting artistic concept - would you pay to keep from drowning in information and connectivity (at least on vacation)? (re: John Brunner)

Virtual Piano Keyboard
Much easier to carry up and down stairs to your new apartment. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Rinspeed 'Splash' English Channel Crossing
Amphibious cars are almost speedy enough for sci-fi. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Ballbot Balancing Upright Robot
Cool robot balances on one uniball unipod spherical - well, you get the idea. (re: George Lucas)

Levitating Bed Vonnegut's Future Now
Kurt Vonnegut called this one about 45 years ago. (re: Kurt Vonnegut)

Donation After Cardiac Death (Wait, I needed that!)
Larry Niven thought about it in 1967 - doctors are trying to increase the donor pool in more creative ways. (re: Larry Niven)

FRS - Forehead Retina System
Remarkable system helps visually impaired people distinguish the objects in front of them. (re: Various)

Liquid Armor With Shear Thickening Fluid
Science fiction writers were first on the scene again in conceptualizing armor that flows with the body but hardens upon impact. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Huggable Robotic Bear Companion From MIT
The lovable robot bear from Spielberg's A.I. is getting much closer, thanks to efforts of researchers at MIT. (re: Brian Aldiss)

Soap Optical Mouse And eXistenZ Metaflesh Game Pod
Wash your hands of that carpal-tunnel-syndrome-creating mouse of yours and make yourself a wireless pointing device. (re: David Cronenberg)

Diebold AccuVote-TS Security Flaw
Diebold is at it again, this time threatening free and verifiable elections in the US. (re: William Gibson)

Vecna BEAR Robot For Battlefield Extraction And Retrieval
Interesting new robot design could be useful for battlefield medical care and other military uses. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

Freeze-Dried Blood For Israeli Soldiers
In a remarkable development, it may soon be possible for soldiers to carry their own blood for emergency transfusion. (re: )

Knock-Based Commands Like Heinlein's
Heinlein called this one; Linux programmers now using knock-codes on accelerometer-equipped laptops. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Four-Rooms-In-One House
Three different rooms use the very same door - sounds science-fictional to me. (re: )

Headband Telepathy And Robinson's Mindkiller
Mind to mind transfer will take at least twenty years, but we're getting there, according to scientists. (re: Spider Robinson)

Chinese Military Takes Page From NASA Apollo Program
NASA actually used this same technique in the 1960's to practice for the Apollo missions. (re: )

V-Rambo Wristwatch Video Receiver
This device allows soldiers to see on the other side of buildings, or over the next hill, using real-time video. (re: Ray Cummings)

Buddy On Demand Inflatable Friend To Women Drivers
Inflatable dolls can make a real difference to lonely women driving at night, according to Reuters. (re: )

AMOEBA Tank Forms Letters Today, Aliens From 'Abyss' Tomorrow
Create letters with standing waves; will it be possible to create effects like the water aliens in Abyss sometime soon? (re: )

Mitsubishi Aurora Vision LED Screen And H.G. Wells
Enormous public high definition screen predicted by H.G. Wells seventy years ago. (re: H.G. Wells)

Hyanide Motorcycle Snowmobile Eyecandy
Part tank, part motorcycle - the Hyanide design prototype looks promising. (re: )

Russians Enjoy 'Total Recall'-Style Fake Vacations
Philip K. Dick fans will enjoy the story of this Russian tour agency that takes a page from We Can Remember It For You Wholesale. (re: Philip K. Dick)

MIT Light-Detecting Fibers Create Niven's Webeye
Amazing fiber web detects light; science fiction gadgets galore may soon exist. (re: Larry Niven)

R7 Ridable Robot
Neal Stephenson, among others, saw this one coming. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Magic Mirror Available Now
Snow White never had her house wired for automation - this guy really knows all. (re: )

Robotic Fire Hose Anna Konda
Imagine a nine-foot long robotic snake full of water slithering to the rescue in a fire - that's Anna Konda. (re: Connie Willis)

CustomFlix News Clips On Custom-Made DVD
Custom media choices arrive even earlier than Jules Verne predicted. (re: Jules Verne)

Cryogenic Suspension For Humans In Two Years
Heinlein's cold rest gets closer and closer - human trials soon. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Prayer Antenna Religious Technology Artifact
Religious technology takes a step forward with the development of the prayer antenna. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Bigelow Genesis I Inflatable First Look
Larry Niven's inflatable space module really works. (re: Larry Niven)

50 MPH Rollerblade Ride
There is a safer way to hitch rides from cars - in Snow Crash. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Robotany Bonzai Robot
Bizarre ambient robot sculpture using shape memory alloy wire. (re: )

Long Life Family Study (Heinlein's 'Howard Families') Now Recruiting
Robert Heinlein got his program started in the mid-1800's; the NIA is starting late, but maybe they'll still get there. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Blank-o-Matic Wake Up
If your spouse (or your mom) is not available to tear the blanket away from you in the morning, this might just do. (re: Various)

d3o Design Competition To Invent The Future
Design your own materials for the future using d3o intelligent molecules, and win cash prizes. (re: L. Niven)

Mr. T Pities The Fool Who Won't Turn Left
Mr. T pities the fool who won't turn left; and he don't take no back talk, sucka! (re: Various)

ROBHAZ-DT3 Rescue Robot In Iraq
This variation on an awardwinning robot design will be used to support Korean troops in Iraq. (re: Various)

Animal Controlled Computer Game Plays Pac-Man Vs. Crickets
Humans versus crickets in a Pac-Man style fight to the finish. Who will win? (re: Orson Scott Card)

Tsunami Warning System Working In Asia
Humans depended mostly on aliens for help in Clarke's 1953 novel Childhood's End. Other alternatives are now available around the world. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Explay Nano Projector Pocket Display
Remarkable display projector is smaller than even science fiction authors imagined. (re: Jack Vance)

Vernor Vinge Smart Contact Lens On Wired
Vernor Vinge got there first - but Wired drew it up real nice for us. (re: Vernor Vinge)

LSTAT-lite Life Support For Trauma and Transport-lite Demoed
DARPA's LSTAT-lite was demonstrated earlier this month in a real-life format. (re: Larry Niven)

No Runts In BigDog Robot Litter
Watch out - those DARPA robots are running in packs now. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Sea-Eye Underwater Broadband Wireless Network
Undersea broadband wireless may get better soon. (re: Various)

Password-Protected Bullets Wait In Their Chambers
Jeez, another password to remember. But the system has options to let you avoid 'what the heck is that password?' hell. (re: Various)

Multi-Hop RFID Tags Track Monkeys
Maurading monkeys vandalizing mountain farms? Who can you call? (re: Various)

K-NFB Portable Text To Speech
Inventor Ray Kurzweil has portable text to speech ready - how long ago did sf writers think about this idea? (re: David H. Keller)

Heinlein Prize Awarded To Diamandis
The first award has been made of the Heinlein Prize, a $500,000 grant for commercial space exploration. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Wrist Phone Sighted
One day, we'll have Dick Tracy's wrist radio. This isn't quite it, but it's got a cool look and a nice display. (re: Various)

Brain Chips With Uniform Self-Organized Neurons
No more puddles of neurons; brain chips are now properly organized. (re: Peter Watts)

L.A. Surveillance Drones Grounded By FAA
Los Angeles county sheriffs should have been reading Technovelgy - they could have avoided this problem. (re: Various)

Fungus Devours CDs
You thought you had enough to worry about - now there's a fungus that consumes CDs, metal and all. (re: Various)

Scientific Proof For Superhero Tights
Superheroes wore skintight suits for a great reason, say French researchers. (re: Various)

Obsessive Computer Hoodies, Headbands, Headscarves
You thought you were obsessed with computer/pda/phone usage? Now, this is obsessive. (re: Various)

Audio Bone-Conduction Headphones
Tired of headphones banging on your eardrums? Bang directly on your nerves through your skull instead. (re: Hugo Gernsback)

The Future Of Cell Phones
The cell phones of the future - probably still drop calls, but they will look extremely cool doing it. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Computers Get 3D View Of World
Remarkable advance makes possible what seemed impractical or undoable just 25 years ago. (re: Various)

Diet Monitors Based On Chewing Sounds
Soon, it may be possible to do away with those cumbersome daily food logs or other diet monitoring aids. (re: Various)

Namib Desert Beetle-based Dune Dew Collectors
They're not chromoplastic, but this new material could be used in Frank Herbert's dew collectors from Dune. (re: Frank Herbert)

SkySeer UAV Drone Soars Over L.A.
Police surveillance by means of unmanned aerial vehicles starts to spread across the country. Helpful tool or police state enabler? You be the judge. (re: Larry Niven)

Hyperactive Bob Fast Food Management Robot
Terrifying short story comes to life; everyone who works for someone else should read this story. (re: Marshall Brain)

Smart Pills: 'Steroids' For Brainiacs?
Will SAT scores, like baseball statistics, need to have asterisks to indicate the use of performance-enhancing brain stimulants? (re: Various)

Robots Get More Sensitive Sensors
Nanoparticles help robots become more sensitive; thin films provide a sense of touch as good as yours. (re: Various)

Invisible Maze Conceptual Holodek
You need to squint a little to see this invisible maze - but it really is sort of like a holodek (alpha release, that is). (re: Various)

Gattaca-Style DNA Databank For 3 Million Americans
More concerns surface as police gather DNA evidence from people who have only been arrested, not charged or even convicted. (re: Andrew Niccol)

Big Brother TV Or Distributed Citizen Action?
Big Brother or entertaining reality TV taken to a whole new level - you be the judge. (re: William Gibson)

Astronauts Test Star Wars Remote On Space Station
Star Wars directly inspired this NASA advanced project; the first testing was successful. (re: George Lucas)

Micro Reactor Systems Creates Frank Herbert's Polawindows
Frank Herbert wrote about polawindows in 1972; after just thirty short years, you can buy them. (re: Frank Herbert)

VeriChip Chairman Proposes RFID Chips For Immigrants
Looks like VeriChip is looking to expand its market; what works for cattle should work for guest workers, apparently. (re: Jack Vance)

Her Majesty's 'Web Robot' Catches Tax Dodgers
Gadzooks! Loyal subjects concealing e-commerce income from Her Majesty caught by intelligent search agent. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Infernoptix Digital Pyrotechnic Matrix Display
Doomsday display or not, one look at this display and you'll forget all about that fancy-pants plasma screen. (re: Various)

NOROS-1 Chinese Italian Lunar Robot
Chinese and Italian researchers hard at work on a lunar exploration robot. (re: Various)

Invisibility Cloaks Seen As Possible With Metamaterials
Invisibility stories continue to appear; when do I get my cloaking device? (re: Ray Cummings)

DNA Fingerprint Database For Workers Gattaca-Style Proposed
NYC mayor Bloomberg proposes a compulsory national DNA database for workers - just like in Gattaca. (re: Andrew Niccol)

Space Elevator Downer
Space elevators going up, or going down - read this article and its references and decide for yourself. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Asimov's First Law Of Robotics Real-Life Beta
Japan makes a serious effort to make sure robots first do no harm. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Pimp My Heart EKG Bling
Pimp My Heart lets cardiologists go for the bling, dog. (re: Various)

Pierced Glasses - Extreme Eyewear
LASIK is extreme - this is just making good use of a piercing that you might have gotten anyway. (re: Various)

TileToy LED Puzzle And Jeff Noon's Randominoes
Ever heard of randominoes? Sounds like someone has made something pretty close. (re: Jeff Noon)

Intelligent Scarecrow Robot Has A Brain
Emerald city technical wizards give a scarecrow a brain. Okay, Florida engineering students created a robot scarecrow. (re: Various)

Heliodisplay M2i - Interactive Midair Touchscreen
The newest Heliodisplay offers interactive 'touch screen' features - but you don't actually touch the display that hangs in mid-air. So, it's actually a 'no-touch-screen...' (re: Frank Herbert)

EtchASound - Picture Your Voice
Hands-free Etch-A-Sketch in 3D; looks like great fun. (re: Various)

Chant Disruptor At Stadium Near You?
Here's how to cut that disruptive audience down to size. (re: Various)

SPOT-NOSED Nanobiosensors For Doctors
The electronic nose doesn't quite know, but soon will, based on this research. (re: Michael Crichton)

Ad Saturation Approaches 100 Percent
Do you think there might be too many advertisements in your life? Other people don't think so. (re: Various)

American Space Colony Art
Ah, the space colonies of my youth. They never built any, but the pictures are very nice. (re: Jack Williamson)

Origami Cell Phone Concept
Great concepts galore from a company called Inventables; I found one that is a twenty-year-old sf idea. (re: William Gibson)

Medical Nanotubes Need Opening? Ask Raquel Welch
How to uncork a medical nanotube - if only we could find a medical assistant the size of a bacterium. (re: Various)

Insbot Robot Cockroaches Make Friends And Influence... Roaches
Tiny robots with Dale Carnegie-style programming help scientists learn about animals that exhibit group behaviors. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Octarms - Robotic Tentacle Bot From Mars!
A robotic tentacle funded by DARPA proves adept at manipulating irregularly shaped (ie natural) objects; just like the Tripod tentacles from War of the Worlds. (re: H.G. Wells)

Metal-like Polymer Developed In South Korea
Who would ever think of flexible, extrudable plastic with the same properties as metal wire? SF authors, that's who. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

French Billboards Call Your Cellphone
Now, didn't I see a movie in which the billboards and store windows tried to speak to you personally? (re: Steven Spielberg)

EveR-1 Korean Android And The Mechanical Bride
In his chilling 1954 story The Mechanical Bride, Fritz Leiber wrote about encounter with an extremely realistic female android. (re: Fritz Leiber)

Everybody Will Be Kung Fu Fighting In New Game
Get off the couch and into the video - defy gravity without wires - use your own moves and your own weapons. (re: )

Amazing Robot Wrestling
Amazing wrestling robots have a variety of great take-down moves. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Invisibility Possible With Superlenses
Ah, the invisibility cloak once again... well, it doesn't appear because... you know. (re: Ray Cummings)

A-170 Video Lightsign Airship Brings Blade Runner Blimp To Sky Near You
The world of Bladerunner draws closer - the low-flying video ad blimps are ready 13 years ahead of schedule. (re: Ridley Scott)

DARPA Urban Challenge - KITT, Put Up Or Shut Up
Okay, KITT - it's time to come out of retirement and win this thing for Knight Industries. (re: Various)

Thor Shield Energy Weapon-Proof Fabric
An engineer with an interest in lightning protection systems comes up with a way to foil taser weapons and cattle prods. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Cylogic Smart Avenger Runaway Project
Just don't let Gene Simmons of KISS get one of these planned smart missiles - you saw what he did with smart bullets in Runaway. (re: Michael Crichton)

Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Has Maximum Headroom
Science meets science fiction today as you can finally have the online look you wanted; face manicuring (like Bruce Sterling) or full-on avatar (like Max). (re: Bruce Sterling)

Porter 'Robots' For Baggage, If Not People
Anybody who is working on an automated solution to me carrying my bags through the airport gets an A for effort from me. (re: John Brunner)

Anti-Landmine Robotic Shoe
There really are anti-mine shoes; the latest suggestion involves using robotics. (re: )

Apple Apparently Working On Orwell's Telescreen
Now, Apple would never create a tool suitable for totalitarian governments - but here's what we could use it for. (re: George Orwell)

Robot Turtle Madeline Flipper Science
Cool robo-turtle executes complex manuevers effortlessly due to its flipper controls. (re: Various)

Mandadory Microchip Implants To Be Prohibited By Law
Want to make sure you are never implanted with a microchip against your will? Better move to Wisconsin. (re: Various)

CLEVER Car One Meter Wide
The CLEVER car is a zippy little prototype vehicle just one meter wide (re: Frank Herbert)

PocketCaster First Live Video Webcast From Cellphone
Now anyone can stream video around the world. (re: David Brin)

Mol Switch Project Nanoactuator Opens New Vistas
An amazing molecular magnetic switch bridges the gap between the biological and silicon worlds; this invention will make possible many other applications. (re: )

PixelOptics SuperVision Optimizes Your Sight
You may not be Superman, but SuperVision is closer than you think. The military get it first, then maybe at an optician near you. (re: Various)

Brainport Tongue Vision In Use By Navy SEALs
Can the military train you to see sonar like a dolphin with a tongue-based interface? Truth may not always be stranger than fiction - but this time it might be. (re: Various)

News E-Papers From Plastic Logic
Newspads and mediatrons, science fiction staples, are now making the prototyping rounds. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Russian Response To Possible Asteroid Impact
The Russians have been studying the problem of close asteroid approaches for years. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

Religion In Space
How can you face Mecca when circling the Earth every 90 minutes? Just one problem faced by Muslims in space. (re: Various)

HIPerWall Highly Interactive Parallelized Display Wall
Think you like your current display? This one might wrap all the way around your dorm room. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Retrotastic Mobile Office Of The Future
Nifty office concept; still looks a bit retro. (re: Various)

Bibliochaise Armchairlibrary
I could sit and read for a year straight in one of these. (re: Various)

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