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VeriChip Provides Emergency ID
   A radio frequency identification (RFID) product called VeriChip is now being used in a controversial pilot program in Mexico to help identify missing children.
Epson uFR Micro Flying Robot
   Epson announced today that it has developed the uFR Micro Flying Robot, a prototype using micromechatronics (hey - and you were looking for a new-word-for-the-day) technology.
Veripay Credit-Card Implant
   Advanced Digital Solutions intends to use its implanted RFID (radio frequency identification) VeriChips as a method of payment at the upcoming ID World 2003 in Paris, France.
Philips Rollable Display (Active-Matrix)
   These remarkable displays are flexible, and can be rolled up and put away when not needed.
Reversible LCD: Two-Sided Electronic Paper
   Mitsubishi has a prototype reversible LCD panel; a two-sided liquid crystal display that can show different images on each side. Like two-sided smart paper!
Poweriser: Extreme Sports Gear from The Diamond Age
   In The Diamond Age, author Neal Stephenson creates a vivid picture of a future Shanghai. The novel mixes "futuristic" devices based on nanotechnology with simpler mechanical devices that are almost Victorian in their simplicity... Imagine my surpri
Toshiba SD-Book: An E-Book With Two Pages
   This unique electronic book has two LCD displays in a very familiar configuration. You have your favorite book open before you, and read it without ever turning a page.
Quik House: Neal Stephenson's U-Stor-It?
   Meet the quik house - a prefabricated kit house made from recycled shipping containers. Sounds like what Hiro Protagonist from Snow Crash lived in.
Sony LIBRIe E-Ink Electronic Book Update
   The Sony LIBRie electronic book solves the most serious problems of past e-book hardware. And, in the near future, it may be able to replace parchment copies of The Daily Prophet, the wizard newspaper from Harry Potter.
VLe Provides Non-Lethal Response
   The VLe handgun provides variable-lethality in the same weapon, giving law enforcement and homeowners a non-violent alternative; like Stephenson's Loogie Gun, only less icky.
JewelEye - Innovative Body Piercing Update
   You've seen it everywhere (and lots of places you haven't seen it) - piercings and tatooing. But you'd need to go to the Netherlands to see eyeball jewelry.
COTS Scout: Team Building Robot
   The COTS Scout robot is learning to play well with others - and to work as part of a search and rescue team.
Church of Fools: The Coming Of The Avatar?
   The Church of Fools, an experiment in online, interactive worship, will open its virtual doors this coming May 11th. The service will be lead by real priests or pastors who appear as "avatars."
Baja Beach Club Implants VeriChip In Customers
   The Baja Beach Club in Barcelona, Spain is the first business to use the VeriChip System to grant customers access to VIP areas and provide an easy payment option.
The Rapture Of The Avatar
   The Church of Fools, the Internet's first virtual-reality place of worship, got off to an unusual start when the avatar of Reverend Jem Clines turned to face the sanctuary wall and disappeared, leaving virtual parishioners thinking about The Rapture.
Soft Robot Powered By Shape Memory Alloy Spokes
   A remarkable new kind of robotic locomotion has emerged in the form of small "robots" that are constructed in the shape of a wheel. The spokes are made of a shape memory alloy; the rim of the wheel is made of an elastic polymer.
Combat Feeding: Just Add Water - Any Water
   Soldiers in the field carry their own food; one day's supply weighs about 3.5 kilograms. However, remove the water, and it only weighs 0.4 kg. But where can you find potable water in the field?
uFR-II Micro Flying Robot - (Lighter) Son of Micro Flying Robot
   Micro flying robot enthusiasts rejoice! Now you can revel in the (lighter) son of the uFR Micro Flying Robot - uFR-II.
Alter Ego Exhibit - Avatars Revealed
   Earlier this month, an exhibition of avatars and their real-life counterparts opened in London. Is there a relationship between the visage of the avatar and the form of the real person?
Carbon Nanofiber Makes Smart Yarn
   Carbon nanofiber can now be spun like yarn to make an amazing variety of new inventions possible.
Self-Cleaning Fabric - Polymer Film Sprinkled With Silver Nanoparticles
   Researchers at Clemson University are trying to make your clothes cleaner - permanently. The secret is a polymer film of polyglycicidyl methacrylate sprinkled with silver nanoparticles.
Tweel - (Almost) A Smart Wheel
   Michelin is introducing the Tweel - a combination of wheel and tire that could offer a number of benefits to owners of wheeled vehicles. Unlike most Michelin tires sold in the past century, the Tweel is unique - it does not use air to cushion the rid
Rape Trap Like Snow Crash 'Dentata'
   South Aftrican inventor Sonette Ehlers has invented an anti-rape device similar to one mentioned in Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash.
Google Earth And VPlanet Explorer
   These two products provide functionality similar to the CIC Earth software in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
Games Of Tomorrow Built By Players Wiki-Style
   The world's megacorporations are counting on you to do the work in the next round of online game creation.
Nano Quadrotors Form Stephenson's Dog Pod Grid
   If you haven't seen this video, it's a remarkable implementation of an sfnal idea.
North Face (Or Snow Crash?) Avalanche Airbag Clothing
   The Powder Guide ABS vest is just the thing for your active lifestyle, on and off the slopes.
Ethiopian Children Learn From Diamond Age Primers
   'The book spoke in a lovely contralto, with an accent like the very finest Vickys.'- Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Siemens Working On Stephenson's 'Mediatron'
   Siemens has lowered the price of thin, flexibles displays enough to bring the mediatron, a flexible, updatable newspaper, into reality.
IMPASS Robot Has Snow Crash 'Smart Wheels'
   Neal Stephenson's smart wheels from Snow Crash are ready to move off the drawing board.
50 MPH Rollerblade Ride
   There is a safer way to hitch rides from cars - in Snow Crash.
R7 Ridable Robot
   Neal Stephenson, among others, saw this one coming.
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.
Autonomous UAV Surveillance Swarm
   Fascinating realization of work by Neal Stephenson and Roger Zelazny.
Second Life - Your Virtual World Is Ready Now
   CNet moves to the virtual world of Second Life.
Second Life Now Has Reporters, Taxes
   My enthusiasm for an escape to onlife life is waning...
The Church of Elvis
   This is not the first online church virtual experience, but you might actually be closer to Elvis.
iEarth From Google, Nasa... Snow Crash?
   New application effectively implements application envisaged in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
Self-Cleaning Sportswear
   Newfangled clothing may never need to be washed - even your old gym socks.
Use Google To Search The Heavens
   Google has once again allied themselves with a spectacular scientific project - have they bitten off more data than they can chew?
Book-Style Interface For Web, TV, Radio
   Watanabe is slowly working toward a future written by Neal Stephenson and posited by MIT's Media Lab.
A4-Sized Color E-Paper Unrolled By Philips
   South Korea's LG Philips does it again with this amazing full sheet of e-paper.
Smart Wheels Are Artificially Intelligent
   Looks like the old 'Tiger Paws' advertisement will finally come true - not the tires, but the wheels themselves.
Skullcandy G.I. Headphones Not Quite Skullgun
   I'm not sure if you can get this one through an airport or not.
Tribal Pizza Carputer For Snow Crash Deliverator
   It's just the first generation, but I can almost smell that fresh 'za gliding silently to my house.
E-Paper By Bridgestone: Ultrathin And Supersized
   Your foldable, crushable, tossable e-paper will be ready by 2009; see a sample now.
Pizza Computer Is One Smart Box
   Outrageous case mod made me think immediately of an sf classic.
Philips Flexible E-Paper World's Highest Resolution
   LG Philips will be showing this flexible e-paper next week, but you can see it today on Technovelgy.
Self-Cleaning Wool And Silk Fabrics
   Self-cleaning clothing would be great; it would be particularly good for clothes that ordinarily must be dry-cleaned, like wool and silk.
Duroquinone Molecule Nano-Brain
   Absurdly small computer can outperform the typical transistor.
AND The Kitchen Sync
   Interesting idea for a different kind of appliance in your kitchen - a more usable cookbook.
Segway's New RMP - Robotic Mobility Platform
   Although I've filed this one under 'robotics,' you might want to use it yourself - as a vehicle.
Gina Cloth-Covered Car From BMW
   Watch the video to see how much this prototype car acts like a mammal with skin; I think we need to talk about exactly what sfnal properties the skin should have.
Two Page E-Book Makes Readers Flip
   This is an idea that has been tried before; take a look at the video and then see what Toshiba developed four years ago.
Microgrippers Grab, Cut Tissue Internally
   Interesting new microsurgical technique is uncomfortably similar to a Neal Stephenson device.
Atheon Temple To Science Open For Worship Soon
   Interesting art project that presents a scientific alternative to worship; fans of Neal Stephenson will hear echoes of his new book 'Anathem.'
'Mycodiesel' From Patagonian Tree Fungus
   Interesting find in the rainforests of Patagonia; the only organism that produces ready-to-use fuel. Put a fungus in your tank.
DubMeNow Business Cards Update Magically
   Interesting concept for exchanging virtual business cards that opens a link between you, allowing auto-updated information. With video.
Micro Imagers For Sensing On Nano Air Vehicles
   Tiny eyes are needed for tiny surveillance drones - and DARPA's MSI program is designing them.
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
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.
Geek Saints
   In worshipful adoration, we humbly present our saints for worship.
Air Bag Jacket Saves Life Of Motorcyclist
   Although this is an old story, it's a pretty good call by an sf writer.
Courier Tablet Computer - Microsoft's Prototype
   Interesting two-page tablet computer prototype from Microsoft is very similar to a Toshiba prototype from almost five years ago. Does it make you think of a runcible?
Courier Tablet Computer Video Reveals Features
   This short video shows off the capabilities of Microsoft's Courier tablet prototype. Do you see features here that are worth having?
Seawater To Cool Downtown Honolulu
   Water will be pumped from the oceans depths to cool buildings in downtown Honolulu.
Kava 'Anti-Energy' Drinks
   Tired of those frenetic energy drink ads? Why not relax?
IMPASS Robot 'Smart Wheel' Video
   They're making great progress with Neal Stephenson's 'smart wheels' - take a look at the video.
Flyfire Micro-Helicopter Display
   Tiny UAVs fly in formation like fireflies, 'self-stabilizing and precise controlling technology' makes a 'spatially animated viewing experience' possible.
Multi-Page E-Book Tablet Roundup
   Did you know that Microsft's innovative design for an ebook was introduced six years ago by Toshiba? Even earlier by Neal Stephenson.
Text 2.0 Smart Text
   Are you reading it, or is it reading you?
Improve MAVs By Studying Bees In Flight
   Nature has solved the problem of flight by tiny machines; let's see how She did it.
Disposable E-Readers?
   E-Readers could be cheap enough to read the content and then throw away.
Largest Micro-Drone Swarm Release Successful
   '... Programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Self-Cleaning SilverSport Gym Gear Uses Nanosilver
   Stinky gym gear now a thing of the past?
Sony Flexible Color E-Paper
   SF writers love the idea of e-paper.
Interactive Storytelling On iPad
   The iPad moves further into a science-fictional future.
Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering Project
   Save the planet from global warming the all-natural way. Is there such a thing as geomimicry?
'Loogie Gun' Deployed On Pennsylvania Turnpike
   Ever been stuck on the highway?
Business Cards Give Way To Bump
   The time-honored business practice goes digital.
Flexible E-Paper Finally Coming Out!
   Finally - the floppy pad! No more hard pads!
Real-Time Avatars Mirror Your Expression
   'These people are pieces of software called avatars.'
'Invisible' Bicycle Helmet
   Would go well with your airbag jacket.
Filabot Turns Dull Plastic Junk To 3D Printed Shiny
   'Whenever Nell's clothes got too small for her, Harv would pitch them into the deke bin and then have the M.C. make new ones.'-Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Superomniphobic Fabrics Are Super Clean
   'Most gentlemen's and ladies' gloves nowadays were constructed of infinitesimal fabricules that knew how to eject dirt...'- Neal Stephenson, 1995
MIT's Cheetah Robot Runs Easier Than Real Cheetah
   Different from Boston Dynamics' robot! 'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Mu-Gripper Microsurgical 'Robots'
   'It took about seven minutes ... for the cookie cutters to be randomly distributed throughout the victim's organs and limbs.'- Neal Stephenson, 1995.
MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
   'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
When Do I Get My Cheap, Flexible Touchscreen?
   'Bud ... snapped at it with his fingernail. New mediaglyphics appeared...'- Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Eye-Controlled Data Glasses
   I've been reading about being able to have useful information overlaid onto my view of the world for years.
Electro-Cosmetics Let You Input With Your Face
   Hi, I'm Katia. I'm a superhero.
WildCat Runs Faster Than You, Untethered
   '...moving with such drifting ease that it was like a single solid cloud of black-grey smoke blown at him in silence.' Ray Bradbury, 1953.
Motorcycle Racing Suit With Airbags
   She jerks the manual release on her cervical collar and goes into full Michelin Man mode- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Is The OutRunner Robot Like Smartwheels?
   'Each spoke telescopes into five sections.'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
High Fidelity Produces More Expressive Avatars!
   'They are the audiovisual bodies that people use to communicate with each other...'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Race Into The Future With Bionic Boots
   'The tremendous loping strides afforded by such devices... '- Neal Stephenson, 1995.
What Can Magic Leap Expect From New 'Chief Futurist' Neal Stephenson?
   'The goggles throw a light, smoky haze across his eyes...'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Robot Swarm Performs Colonoscopy And Biopsy
   'There was ... the Seven Minute Special...'- Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Why, Oh Why, Must We Develop Robots That Run Faster Than I Do?
   'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Synthetic Coral To Clean The Seas?
   'Numberless capillaries arranged in a belt around the smart coral reef...'- Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Cheetah 2 Robot Now Leaps Obstacles To Get You
   'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Store Electricity In Paper - Next Stop, E-Paper!
   'It looked exactly like a dirty, wrinkled, blank sheet of paper.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Drone Catches Drone! In Japan
   'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995
Biggest Drone Swarm Sets World Record
   Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) airborne simultaneously.
Snow Crash And Domino's DXP Pizza Delivery Vehicle
   'The electromechanical hatch on the flank of his car is already opening to reveal his empty pizza slots...' - Neil Stephenson, 1992.
Textiles Self-Cleaning In Sunlight
   'You could thrust your gloved hand into mud, and it would be white a few seconds later' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Drone 100, Coordinated Drone Performance Team
   'The real border was... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Solar Geoengineering Spray Cools, Heals
   'the maintenance posts fire jets of tailored algae into the air stream.' - Niven and Pournelle, 1974.
3D Printed Prosthetic Coral
   Be sure to read The Diamond Age - still worth it.
Flexup Tire Design Good For Tumblebugs
   'Each spoke telescopes into five sections.'- Neal Stephenson, 1992.
China's Drone Fleet Flies In Formation
   'Programmed to hang... in a hexagonal grid pattern.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Crazyflie Drone Swarm Technology
   '...Programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Slaughterbot AI KIller Quadcopter Drones
   'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Poland Starts With 1000 Warmate 'Suicide Drones'
   'Royal Security had told the pods to electrocute you or blast you into chum.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Tesla Augmented Reality Hypercard
   'The hypercard is an avatar of sorts.' - Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Ionocraft Drone Powered By Electrohydrodynamic Thrust
   'He saw one hiss by him as he rounded the corner, trailing a short whip antenna...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Flying Car Concept By Kash Sirinanda
   'Each one consists of a hub with many tiny spokes... On the end is a squat foot, rubber tread on the bottom...' - Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Tiny LEDs Developed For Dust-Sized Computers
   'They use sparkles to talk to each other...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Juggalo Face Paint Disrupts Facial Recognition
   '... designed to foil facial recognition systems.' - Neal Stephenson, 2019
Entire Planet Modeled In New MS Flight Sim
   'CIC uses [it] to keep track of every bit of spatial information that it owns...' - Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Finally! Microsoft Surface Neo And Surface Duo Implement Excellent Courier Idea
   'Runcible, whose pages were thicker and more densely packed with computational machinery...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Surface Film Repels All Bacteria
   'Most gentlemen's and ladies' gloves nowadays were constructed of infinitesimal fabricules that knew how to eject dirt...'- Neal Stephenson, 1995
Kelly Clarkson Show Like Black Mirror '15 Million Merits'
   'These people are pieces of software called avatars.' Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Unitree A1 Robot ala Black Mirror and Snow Crash
   'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power...' - Neal Stephenson, 1992.
Magnetically Driven Rotary Microfilter 3D Printed
   '... not really walls but nearly infinite grids of submicroscopic wheels.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Experts Decry Planet-Scale Schemes To Limit Global Heating
   'Light from the sun hit those little spheres and bounced.' - Neal Stephenson, 2021.
Hip'Safe Airbag For Seniors, From Helite
   'Other airbags go off around her torso and pelvis...' - Neal Stephenson, 1992.
'Make Sunsets' Tweaks Climate By Atmospheric Alteration
   'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.' - Neal Stephenson, 2021.
Vendetta 2023 All-Terrain Skateboard Could Use Neal Stephenson's Smartwheels
   'If you surf over a bump... If you surf over a pothole...' - Neal Stephenson, 1992.
We Need To Build Anti-Drone Systems For Civilian Spaces
   'the real border was defended by ...a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Has Turkey Been Stealing Rain From Iran?
   Can one country take another's rain?
Climate Engineering In California Could Make Europe's Heat Waves Worse
   'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.' - Neal Stephenson, 2021.
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
   'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
CoulombFly Solar-Powered Micro Aerial Vehicle Weighs 4.1 Grams
   'the monitors - almond-sized aerostats...' - Neal Stephenson, 1995.
Qore IcePlates Are Personal Cooling Suits
   '... underneath they consisted of networks of cooling tubes against the skin.' - Neal Stephenson, 2021.
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
   '...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.' - Neal Stephenson, 2019.

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