Healing With Light Like Trek Protoplaser
Another healing technology that would have seemed sfnal a generation ago - and was presented as such in the 1960's. (re: Cogswell and Spano)

Touchy Feely Trigger Point Mouldings
If you've ever desired a more intimate relationship with the walls of your apartment or business, I've got just the thing for you. (re: J.G. Ballard)

ViRob Microrobot Crawls Inside You
Got the creepy-crawlies? Maybe its just ViRob, the friendly internal robot. (re: Various)

Mice Now With Human Language Gene
Sfnal or Disneyesque? (re: Various)

Google Wave Tide Of Collaboration Now Ashore
Google introduces a new kind of computer mediated conversation today in San Francisco. (re: Frederik Pohl)

HTC Magic Smartphone At Google IO
Take a look at what they gave us at Google IO 2009; maybe the most remarkable pocket-sized computer you ever owned. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

TV-B-Gone Hoodie
I've been at the Google I/O conference this week, and this was just one of the cool devices featured at their after party. (re: Murray Leinster)

Google Holodeck Now Operational
Who knew Google had a holodeck? (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Rotating Space Elevator
Striking concept may sound similar to sfnal technologies used by Forward and Pohl. (re: Various)

Ethical Governor For Battlefield Robots
Is it possible for military robots to know when to fire? What will restrain them? (re: Keith Laumer)

KOBIAN Emotionally Demonstrative Robot
There have been physically demonstrative robots in science fiction; but most of them follow a common path. (re: Various)

Water Purity Detection In Real Time
'Will someone try chaumurky tonight - poison in the drink?' Not if Professor Katzir has anything to say about it. (re: Frank Herbert)

Geek Saints
In worshipful adoration, we humbly present our saints for worship. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Sneaky Robots Are Right Around The Corner
Although this is undoubtedly useful behavior for guard robots, is 'sneakiness' a trait we want to see in robots? (re: Philip K. Dick)

Voice Interactive Alarm Clock By Moshi
Hello Moshi - now haven't we all spoken to our alarm clocks at one time or another? (re: Frank Herbert)

U-Met Utility Helmet For First Responders
This helmet would be of use in a variety of situations, from disaster response to ordinary police work. (re: Davin Brin)

Autonomous Rotorcraft Sniper System
This device hovers over the urban battlefield, directed remotely (using a modified Xbox controller), with significant armament. (re: Larry Niven)

The Longest Story Ever Told?
Updated with interview. This story will take many generations of human beings to believe and yet it fits on the cover of a standard magazine. (re: Various)

Silver-Based Epoxy Makes Electronics Thinner
Interesting technique for making memory packages smaller - I'm pretty sure I read about this idea more than thirty years ago. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

WolframAlpha Is Not A Search Engine
I see the WolframAlpha computational knowledge engine in two science-fictional ways, but their engineers might be seeing another. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Rity Software Agent Has 'Genomic' Personality
The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation may own the patent on this idea; this software agent is back in the news with a much more complex personality. (re: Douglas Adams)

Cell Phone-Based Epidemiology For H1N1 Flu
Test will use cell phones to track your location; did you cross paths with anyone who was infected? I smell a new kind of fee from your cell phone provider... (re: Various)

Let's Pizza Robotic Pizzeria
More tasty food made by robotic minions is on the way; take a look at the video to see if Let's Pizza meets your standards. (re: Edgar Rice Burroughs)

Bacteria Helpless Slaves To Nanobot Master
Watch the video and see swarms of bacteria maneuver a nanobot in a dish; a trick someday to be performed in your own blood stream. (re: Various)

iVisit SeeScan Cell Phone 'Seeing Eye' Camera For Blind
This remarkable demo video shows some very impressive object recognition; very useful for the blind or people with low vision or other visual impairment. (re: Various)

iRobot Ember Crawling Microbot
Paperback book-sized microrobot will serve as a mobile platform for a variety of applications, including ad hoc networks. Just toss and boot up. Video included. (re: Various)

Navman Spirt TV Satellite Navigation Dashboard TV
So how come I can't watch TV on the display in my hybrid car? What's wrong with having a dashboard TV? (re: Philip K. Dick)

OLEDs Connected In Stretchable Display
Why not just print a watch onto your sleeve? With this device from Takao Someya and colleagues, you can do it now if you want. (re: Niven/Barnes)

Silent Talk 'Telepathy' For Soldiers
DARPA seems determined to provide soldiers with the ability to communicate with thoughts alone. (re: L.F. Stone)

Cloud Cities: Our Green Jovian Future
Updated! It's a little bit round-a-bout, but it's possible that our green future is out there in a gas giant. Now with more science, at reader request. (re: George Lucas)

Brain Scan Biometric Security
Philip K. Dick proves once again that he had the future sussed; it appears that your brain scan can be used as a 'fingerprint'. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Lunar Spider-Bot Swarm By Team Italia
Bold concept (with at least one functional prototype) by Team Italia, in search of Xprize rewards. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Venus Sensor And Portable Monitor For Dr. McCoy
The team at the National Space Biomedical Research Institute is trying to make this amazing device even smaller; it obviates the need for needle sticks in orbit. But will it be as small as the sensor in the video? (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Ripsaw MS1 Like Laumer's Bolo
This unmanned tank can do speedy maneuvers and zip along at up to sixty mph. It's not autonomous - yet. (re: Keith Laumer)

D_Shape 3DPrints Houses, Rocks, Temples
All you need is a CAD file - use it to print out conventional houses - are you kidding? Print out Mayan temples or Planet of the Apes houses! (re: Larry Niven)

HIRO Human Interactive Robot
Just how close do you want to work with robots? This robot can help roboticists find the answers. (re: Issac Asimov)

Electric Cars To Make Noise By Law?
A quarter-century ago, an SF writer thought that it might be cool to give silent cars real engine sounds. Now, you might be forced to - and no way to turn it off. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Saya Humanoid Robot Teacher
Did you think that 'no more teacher's dirty looks' would prevail in the era of the robotic teacher. Au contraire. (re: Issac Asimov)

On/Off Luminescent Ink Prints On Fabric
Not just glow in the dark; you can selectively illuminate pixels for that sleeve watch that Niven and Barnes got you all worked up about a couple of decades ago. (re: Niven/Barnes)

MIT Conversation Shielding Like Cone Of Silence
Keeping those office conversations private needs serious technology. MIT researchers are there with the goods. (re: Robert Heinlein)

PharmaSat Nano-Satellite Orbiting 'Lab'
Interesting experiment exapnds the role of very small, autonomous experimental 'labs'. (re: Michael Crichton)

Fukitorimushi Floor-Cleaning Robot - An Inchworm Dust Mop
This unique cleaning robot crawls along on its belly like an inchworm, shining it's blue-white searchlight upon your floor, looking for grime. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Brush Up On Star Trek Tech Made Real
So much Star Trek technology has been brought into being - at least partly - that I'm wondering what new worlds are left to conquer, technologywise, in the new Star Trek movie. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Facebot Ibn Sina Robot On Facebook
It appears that no one - not even robots - can resist the allure of social networking. (re: Various)

Underwater Robot With Touch Sensitive Skin
Divers with active imaginations may want to stay topside while this robot goes down below. (re: Murray Leinster)

Amazon Kindle DX XL E-Reader
Amazon finally unveils its new, large screen version of an e-reader. (re: Stephen Spielberg)

Bendable, Self-Healing Concrete
This engineered cement composite can not only bend, it can heal itself without any intervention from human beings. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Atomic Layer Deposition Like Wolverine's
This technique could also toughen other biomaterials. Like possibly an X-man's skeleton and claws? (re: Various)

RAPHaEL Robotic Hand Air-Powered
Thumbs up for this unique robotic hand, created by undergraduates. Compressed air is all you need to run it. (re: George Lucas)

DIY Robochess Robot From Iran
This do-it-yourself chess-playing robot was created by an 18 year-old Iranian student; it includes a mechanism for moving the pieces on the board. (re: Ambrose Bierce)

Bacteria Guided Through Bloodstream W/Magnetic Fields
Rather than building nanomachines (or building a shrink ray!), how about using actual bacteria as the 'robots' to move material through the bloodstream to a desired spot. (re: Issac Asimov)

Brain-Controlled Wheelchair
Take a look at this video of a wheelchair controlled by the brainwaves of the user. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Machine Dispenses Snacks When Economy Goes Bad
This device responds to bad economic news by dispensing comfort food. Would HAL have done better to offer Dave Bowman some nice snacks rather than a stress pill? (re: Arthur)

Robots Should Replace Cafeteria Ladies, Say Students
School children across the US are demanding an end to fallible cafeteria ladies - and a bold future of robot chefs! With videos. (re: Anthony Boucher)

Software Tools Design Anti-Viral Cities
Can software tools design cities to prevent the spread of disease? J.G. Ballard thought so, and so do modern computer scientists. (re: J.G. Ballard)

Talkie Toaster AI Website - Would You Like Some Toast?
Project seeks to create the obsessive toaster from the Red Dwarf TV series; visit the chatbot site and judge for yourself. (re: Various)

Green Box 'Futuristic' Pizza Box
Take a look at the video showing how to use this attractive, recyclable pizza box. But futuristic? I think Snow Crash has set the standard for the smart pizza box. (re: Neal Stephenson)

KASPAR Robot W/RoboSkin Teaches Autistic Kids Interaction
This well-developed robot platform is being given new, sensor-laden skin to further help autistic children. (re: Brian Aldiss)

Read/Write Brain Electrodes Handier Now
Prototypes can simultaneously read and stimulate brain neurons - smart neurological implant systems coming right up. (re: Frank Herbert)

Digilegs - Digigrade Leg Extensions
Sure, we've all wanted to trot like animals through the park. But Kim Graham has gone one step further and created wearable satyr leg extensions. (re: Various)

Programmable Lab-On-A-Chip
This important development will lead to much more useful portable biosensors and other analysis tools; it would be useful to have a device that detected swine flu from a simple needle stick. (re: Greg Bear)

Walking Gel Caterpillar Like The Blob!
Didn't I just write an article on squishy robots? Looks like these researchers are way ahead of the curve. (re: Various)

Lunar Oasis Greenhouse 2012
That plant will need a space suit to survive on the surface of the moon. And that's what the Lunar Oasis is. With video. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Flexpeaker Paper Thin Speakers
Can you imagine a movie poster - that plays the movie soundtrack - right off the surface of the flat paper movie poster? Well, get to work on it. With video. (re: Larry Niven)

robuLAB10 Healthcare Roomba
This little bot is just a prototype, but imagine if you will a little household medical robot that follows your elderly mother-in-law around the house. (re: David H. Keller)

Power Generating Shoe Instructions
Don't let the power from walking go to waste - start gathering up that energy now with these DIY parasitic power harvesting shoes. (re: Frank Herbert)

Face Mining Star Trek For Kirk, 7-Eleven For You
Face mining and facial recognition are getting some real face time with their fans on the Internet. Take a look at what Pittsburgh Pattern Recognition has been up to. (re: Joseph E. Kelleam)

Shimon Robot Improvisational Jazz Sideman
Sure, the humans had some great sidemen, but now the robots can root for Shimon, the robot marimba player. (re: Various)

Multimode Directed Energy Armament System
I suppose calling this a 'ray gun' might be going too far, since I doubt it's portable. With proper miniaturization, maybe. (re: Harold Ramis)

Photo-Veil Camo Digi Military Wrap
Gather ye your images from divers sources, then place on a mesh to confuse thine enemies. Dick, Gibson, Martin - of whom does this remind you? (re: George R.R. Martin)

Allosphere Display Like X-Men Cerebro
Unique spherical display looks like something from the movies. X-men movies. (re: Various)

Smart Phone-Based Tricorder Tech
It's just a prototype, but it illustrates very nicely how the computing power and graphics of a smartphone can be married to existing small medical probes. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Automated Mammalian Training Devices
There must be a better way to train animals to do our bidding, reasons DARPA. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Sky-Terra Towers Blot Out Sky
'Centuries ago, Stratos was built by leaders that gave their word... that all inhabitants would live there.' Identify that quote. (re: Various)

Walk-In Cocktail Available In London
What appears to be the first walk-in cocktail is now available in a pub in Britain. (re: Frank Herbert)

Precision Urban Hopper Robot Must 'Stick' Landings
This robot has a piston actuated foot that lets it jump up to 25 feet in the air. And, yes, it was predicted by science fiction writers. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Universities Irrelevant By 2020
A Brigham Young University professor foresees the end of the university as we know it. But will it come soon enough? (re: Isaac Asimov)

SquishBot Soft Shape-Changing 'Chembots'
These soft-bodied shape-shifting robots are needed by DARPA; MIT wants theirs to lay down a trail of slime. (re: Rudy Rucker)

PETMAN Humanoid Robot
This robot will be used for product testing of protective gear by the US Army. Better it than thou. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Festo Aqua Ray Robot
I love underwater robots. Especially the biomimetic underwater robots. This manta ray robot is amazing with the skin on - or off. With video! (re: Various)

Robot AquaPenguins Soar Underwater
This robot has an extremely flexible 'fuselage' or body that helps it move uncannily like a real penguin. Note: this article now has video! (re: Michael Swanwick)

Conductive Bodypaint Skin Circuitry
Why carry a cell phone or other electronic device when you can be the device? Also makes electronics prototyping easier. (re: Various)

Bacteria Talk To Each Other On Bassler Video
Exceptional talk by molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler details the latest research and thinking about how bacteria work together to help us and harm us. (re: Greg Bear)

GandhiCam For Blackberry Auto-Uploads Sousveillance
Interesting application turns ordinary Blackberry into a civil resistance tool. (re: David Brin)

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 Could Shut Down Your Internet
The Cybersecurity Act may need a way to shut down all or part of the Internet - Brunner, who first introduced the term 'computer tapeworm', is ahead of everyone once again. (re: John Brunner)

Arm Swing Authentication For Mobile Phones
A unique bit of biometric data you didn't even know you had will authenticate users of mobile devices. Just don't stand near people opening their phones. (re: Douglas Adams)

ETICA Already Missed These SF Comm Predictions
Boffins form group to predict the next Twitter; they're already too late to predict these communication breakthroughs, since sf authors have already done so. (re: Various)

Ballutes Studied For Hypersonic Space Vehicles
HyperCMST will simulate the use of ballutes in space missions. However, take a look at this video clip from the movie 2010 to really get a feel for ballute deployent. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Kindle Orwellian Nightmare
An edition of the Times which might have been rewritten a dozen times still stood on the files bearing its original date, and no other copy existed to contradict it. (re: George Orwell)

SolarEn To Sell Satellite Solar Power
This idea has been kicked around by sf authors for several generations. Has the time for SBSP (space-based solar power) finally come? (re: Clifford Simak)

COLBERT Treadmill Long SF History
Here are at least three references to early exercising strategies in space. How many can you think of - before people actually spent much time in orbit? (re: Murray Leinster)

Yahoo Japan's Minority Report Billboards
Do you really want to walk past a screen, and then find out what a corporate face recognition algorithm thinks you are - young or old, rich or poor, male or female? (re: Stephen Spielberg)

Flying Micro-Robot Has Pincer
With a laser-activated pincer and weighing just 3 hundredths of an ounce, this micro-robot might someday be a fly on the wall of your clean room. (re: Robert Forward)

Supernumerary Phantom Limb Confirmed
Extremely rare case of an additional phantom limb; fMRI confirms that the patient can use it to feel as if she scratches herself. (re: Larry Niven)

Air Conditioned Coffins
I doubt that an air conditioned coffin would keep you cooler for eternity - but maybe for a more comfortable half-life. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Iceland's Krona Worth More In MMORG EVE Online?
As we move back and forth between real and virtual worlds, it gets harder to tell where the real money is. (re: Various)

Plant Is First Person Shooter
Who knows, perhaps border vegetation has more of a role to play in Homeland Security than we thought. (re: Various)

3D HD da Vinci Surgical Robotics
This remarkable system lets you perform microsurgery in binocular hd. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

A-Pod Robot Hexapod Video
Is there an uncanny valley for insectile robots? If so, this one is wiggling right on through it. (re: Michael Crichton)

MichelAngelo Bionic Hand
Evoking the image of Michelangelo's Hand of God, a new prosthetic device is successfully implanted. (re: Martin Caidin)

Miniature Telescope Implanted In Eye
Although implanting a telescope in the eye is impressive, I find myself wondering when the implant will offer 10x magnification. (re: Various)

Robot Scientist Makes Autonomous Discovery
Automating the scientific process; I wonder if they'll also automate the process of competing for resources in academia. (re: John M. Faucette)

Fuel Cell Uses Human Blood
Interesting microbial fuel cell that uses yeast to process glucose in blood. Just the thing for that implant you were looking at - who needs to go looking for batteries? (re: Various)

Fall Into Black Hole Video
Two researchers create a carefully reasoned explanation of the view from within a black hole on this video. Oh, and you'll need trinocular vision as shown in this illustration. (re: Various)

Flat Flexible Loudspeakers From Warwick Audio
The development of this technology will make possible devices by authors like Ellison, Dick and Sterling. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Wrong Tomorrow - A Brin Predictions Registry?
This site keeps track of predictions, and might help us separate the seers from the blowhards. (re: David Brin)

Robotic Bulldozer Force Doubles In Israel
These remote-controlled behemoths are under control for now. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

Smart Dew Sensor Monitoring
Not quite dust-sized, but we're getting closer. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Honda Thought-Controlled Robot
If you're going to have a robotic doppelganger, it should move using your thoughts alone. Updated! (re: Various)

Narcisystem Belt - The Biometric Self Captured
In this experiment, biometric data is used to make the environment all about the user. (re: )

Living Robot Has Biological Brain
Recent developments and more details about these robots with reorganized living rat neuron brains. A first step toward swibble-culture, Mr. Dick? (re: Philip K. Dick)

PQ Labs Multi-Touch G2 Hands On Interface
This display might just sneak in ahead of both Microsoft and Apple; video shows how a customized interface can help game play. (re: Various)

Hotelicopter Hovering Hotel
This clever fake also has a nicely 'shopped video. (re: Jack Vance)

Watchmen Science
Physicist Jim Kakalios discusses the science of Watchmen in this video; he uses science fiction to sneak in a lot of interesting science. (re: Various)

Total Health Surveillance Near
Yes, that's right - 24 hours per day, 7 days per week medical monitoring is coming, whether you want to or not. (re: William Gibson)

Tesla Model S Not Your Grandfather's Electric Phaeton
Tesla has finally unveiled their electric car for the rest of us; take a look at the future of the electric Phaeton. (re: John Jacob Astor IV)

ApriAttenda Robot Nurse For Aging Japan
Three main factors are pushing the Japanese into creating these robotic servants, which they will then market around the world. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Brain Chip Hardware Neurons And Synapses
Finally, robots will be able to get the brains they really need, not just some sort of microprocessor. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Helmet-Based Sniper Location System
This system transforms ordinary soldiers into information-gathering 'smart nodes' on a wireless network, ultimately producing a location map of enemy shooters. (re: Greg Bear)

Interactive Digital Billboards Controlled By Phones
I had some thoughts about this variation on the Minority Report-style billboard that takes your info whether you want to share or not. With video. (re: Stephen Spielberg)

Synthetic Human Blood From Embryonic Stem Cells?
The quest for artificial blood continues; the Scots are about to take a stab at it. (re: Various)

Mirrors For Gravitational Waves
Can superconducting sheets reflect gravity waves? Is this causing odd results in the Gravity Probe B experiment? Can H.G. Wells shine any light on these matters? (re: H.G. Wells)

Perspiration As Biometric Identification
Would it be faster to just get sniffed at an airline checkpoint, as opposed to showing ID? (re: Jim Thomas)

Brain Wave Patterns Predict Mistakes
If we work on this a bit more, we might even be able to prethink. Just a little. (re: Philip K. Dick)

MindCite Data Mining Crime Fighting BatComputer
This computer effort combines information from many different sources. Object: crime-fighting. (re: Bob Kane)

Do Elementary Particles Have Free Will?
Princeton mathematicians take their case to the public - if you have free will, so do elementary particles. (re: A.E. van Vogt)

Robotic Fish To Detect Pollution
These lifelike robotic fish will use chemical sensors to find the source of hazardous pollutants in the water. (re: Michael Swanwick)

Carbon Nanotube Muscles
This technology provides an amazing increase in force per unit area of standard (i.e., human) muscles. (re: HG Wells)

Information Age Prayer Pray-O-Mat
Can a machine say prayers for you? Now, you can test it out. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Cajun Crawler Like Segway With Legs - Lots Of Legs
This unique vehicle has the creepiest locomotion I've seen in a while. (re: Various)

CareBot MSR Personal Care Robot
New entry in the home and health care robotics area; it can even make use of your own family's colloquial expressions. (re: Various)

Roomba Detects Emotions Like HAL-9000
Just wait until this device is used to control more powerful technology. Let sleeping Krell lie, I say. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

UK SF Writers On Science Fact
Science fiction writers discuss science and science fiction. (re: Various)

Space Debris Cleanup Suggestions Ignored
It's not like writers didn't do everything they could to sound the alarm - and suggest solutions. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Grapevine Pruning Robot
Do robots deserve a day of rest? New robot prototype perform pruning chores cheaper than people. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Yoshiyuki Sankai And His HAL Exoskeleton
Fascinating series of interviews on video shows how a prominent roboticist read science fiction as a child, and then worked to make it come true as an adult. (re: Isaac Asimov)

BaR2D2 Robot Celebrates St. Patrick's Day
Robotic mobile bar gets into the spirit of the day. Nice hat, BaR2D2. (re: Various)

Robot Land: Robot Theme Park In Korea
Is Robot Land the vacation of the future? You may get your wish by 2013. (re: Michael Crichton)

Giant Sand Worms Once Roamed The Earth
Bless the Maker! Distant ancestors of Shai-hulud once roamed our own Earth. May His passage cleanse the world. Dune fans around the world tremble in fear. (re: Frank Herbert)

Laser Kills Mosquitoes Like Brin's Bee Zapper
This story is even better because it arose in the context of intellectual property; if Brin had the idea in 1990, doesn't he own it? (re: David Brin)

HRP-4C Robot Woman Is A Cybernetic Humanoid
Just wait until the artists supplement the work of engineers; the fact that this robot duplicates humanoid movement within a human form factor is amazing. (re: Fritz Leiber)

U.N. Hosts Intergalactic Representatives
The United Nations is looking for insight into problems that face its members. (re: Various)

Underwater Cities Like Otoh Gunga Next?
We're slowly building the pieces of underwater cities. (re: Roger Zelazny)

UK School Face Recognition: Kiddie Orwell Tech
Surveillance of schools now an enjoyable activity, claims UK school principals. (re: Schachner and Zagat)

Your Blade Runner Technology Is Ready, Rick Deckard
Take a look at seven! classic science fiction tech items, and their real-life counterparts, in this, your Blade Runner future. (re: Ridley Scott)

Precision Agriculture: Robot Gardeners Serve Plant Network
Interesting project by MIT postdoc Nikolaus Correll runs up against a future that Herbert, Dick, Gibson and Crichton all thought about. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Touch EPD Touch Screen EPaper Display
E-paper, e-shmaper - now there's a way to interact directly with your e-paper display, getting rid of those clunky control keys and boards. (re: Greg Bear)

Dynamic Augmented Wheel System Eight-Part Wheel
Interesting concept seems to work as prototype, but despite similarity to smartwheels, I think there is a traditional solution that works better (re: Neal Stephenson)

Spatial Memories Seen In Hippocampus fMRI
With this new technique, it was demonstrated that spatial memories can be seen by others using fMRI, bringing at least one Farscape technology closer to life. (re: Various)

3D Bone Printer Uses Your Cells
I'm thinking of going in and getting a complete set of X-rays; when they ask me what they're for, I'll say 'I want to make sure I have templates.' (re: Frank Herbert)