Home | Glossary | Timeline | New

Science Fiction in the News Articles
Related to material in Changeling
by Roger Zelazny

Excellent novel; most editions are profusely illustrated by Esteban Maroto. This is technically a 'science and fantasy' story, dealing with the intersection of a magical world and the world of technology.

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:

Robotic Bat Wing
   '...they stirred, almost simultaneously, as if shaken by a sudden breeze. They began to flex their wings.'- Roger Zelazny, 1980.

Autonomous Soaring Project UAV Cloud Swift
   NASA experiments with tiny surveillance planes that can catch air currents autonomously.

Tiny Spyplanes May Recharge On Power Lines
   The next time you stare at all those birds lined up on the power line, look for the odd-shaped one with the surveillance sensors.

COM-BAT Robotic 'Bat' On Order From UM
   This intriguing development popped up right in my own backyard; UM researchers will attempt feats of micro-miniaturization to make this work.

Implantable Prosthetic For The Blind
   Interesting follow-up to the story about an implantable optic prosthesis to help the estimated 45 million people in the world without sight.

Swarming Micro Air Vehicle Networks (SMAVNET)
   The US Army is setting up to learn about this idea; I found several good resources that I hope they're using.

BAE Spider Robot Wrist Watch Monitor
   The idea of a wrist band monitor or bracelet-monitor is a good idea now - and a good idea when I first read about it almost thirty years ago.

Robot Aircraft To Ride Thermal Air Currents
   New research will provide UAVs with a fuel-saving alternative that has helped flyers stay aloft for millions of years.

Zephyr Solar Plane Sails For Days
   This plane proves you can never be too thin or too ultralight; it may be a precursor to the Vulture program announced earlier in 2008.

Flexible OLED Wrist Display Like Pip-Boy
   Flexible OLED display now available in a wrist-worthy format.

Robotic Butterflies For Parks Near You?
   Among the synthetic trees, unliving turf and flower-holograms in the parks of the future, we will have robotic butterflies.

MIT Glider Lands On a Perch Like A Bird
   This little glider has an amazing biomimetic feature.

Army Wrist Display Uses 4.3 Inch OLED
   Field trials of this thin, lightweight and ruggedized communications device are underway.

UAVs Schooled In Thermals By Peregrine Falcons
   The more efficiently a UAV can maneuver, the longer it can stay on station. Birds have millions of years of experience; let them teach us.

Robotic Hummingbird Spy
   This tiny prototype weighs just 19 grams and has its own onboard video camera.

Surveillance Drone Bird Crashes
   If it really is a surveillance drone, whose is it?

The Ultimate Wrist Watch Pip-Boy-style
   'Mark brushed back ... his upper garment and pressed several buttons on the wide bracelet he wore upon his left wrist... '- Roger Zelazny, 1980.

Army's New Bird-Like Surveillance UAV
   'The prototype blue-bellied, gray-backed tracer-bird with the wide-angle eye…'- Roger Zelazny, 1980.

USAF 'BATMAN' Wrist Display
   'The tiny screen in the bracelet's center...'- Roger Zelazny, 1980.

Neptune Duo Smartwatch Wearable Wristband
   '[He] pressed several buttons on the wide bracelet he wore upon his left wrist...'- Roger Zelazny, 1980.

eMotionButterfly Ultralight Robot From Festo
   'Artificial butterflies darted along invisible beams...'- Roger Zelazny, 1980.

Ultralight Origami Crane UAV Flexes Its Wings
   'They began to flex their wings.' -

Eagles Vs. Drones
   'Moon bird's view was... partly blocked by the pyramid, so that he did not see the bird-things dark against the brilliant sky...' - Roger Zelazny, 1080.

FlexEnable OLED Bracelet SmartPhone Concept
   'The tiny screen in the bracelet's center...' - Roger Zelazny, 1980.

'Eye In The Sky' Movie Borrows 35, 80 Year-Old SF
   SF writers don't have a problem seeing decades into the future.

Solar Plane Circles The Globe
   'Tropism-like pursuit of the sun across the sky as they recharged their batteries...' - Roger Zelazny

Bat Bot Robotic Flapping-Wing Drone
   'The dark birdforms dotted the mountaintops like statues of prehistoric beasts, wings outspread...' - Roger Zelazny, 1980.

Technovelgy.com is devoted to the creative inventions of science fiction authors and movie makers. Look for the Science Fiction Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary of Science Fiction Inventions, the Timeline of Science Fiction Inventions, or see what's New.
Find new authors and technologies - Shop for yourself, your library and your lab.

Science Fiction
in the News

More SF in the News