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Science Fiction in the News Articles related to the works of Jack Vance

Jack Vance was born in California in 1916 (d. 2013), published his first story in 1945. Vance's work defies easy description; his highly literate style is not what most science fiction readers expect. His work has won many awards, including two Hugos, a Nebula, the World Fantasy Award, an Edgar (for mystery) and the SFWA Grandmaster award for his lifetime of work. (From Jack Vance) In an unusual tribute to Vance, his entire output of stories and novels is being collected in the Vance Integral Edition, a volunteer effort by hundreds of fans. 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:

DARPA Seeks Metabolic Dominance
   DARPA has initiated a new program called "Metabolic Dominance" to assure that soldiers have superior physiological qualities. Frank Herbert had the answer sooner, though.
Musclebot: Microrobot with a Heart
   A microrobot designed by microengineer Carlos Montemagno walks with the aid of living heart muscle at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Skeletar And Dragon Lyre ExoticGuitars - Science Fiction Instruments
   Luthier Peter McGilton has used his Masters Degree in Fine Arts, and post graduate studies in classical instrument construction, to take the guitar-maker's art to truly science-fictional levels. Jack Vance would love this guy.
Shadow Sculptures Of Shiego Fukuda
   Sculptor Shiego Fukuda created an apparently abstract three-dimensional object - However, the image that Fukuda wants you to see is the shadow of the sculpture - a motorcycle that can be seen when a light is passed through.
Jack Vance's Incredibly Thin Solar Sail
   Jack Vance guessed the thickness of an ultralight solar sail propulsion system Alliant Techsystems and NASA have recently tested.
Wing-Morphing Micro Air Vehicles
   Bird-like MAVs use wings based on sea gulls to navigate urban canyons.
Fab Tree Hab And The Houses Of Iszm
   Imagine a society in which living tree structures were used instead of dead lumber; Jack Vance has done it, and so have MIT grads.
First Undersea Restaurant
   Ithaa opened just forty years after Jack Vance wrote about them.
TREETENTS And House Trees
   Interesting realization of the pod-like dwellings described generations ago by Jack Vance.
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.
Explay Nano Projector Pocket Display
   Remarkable display projector is smaller than even science fiction authors imagined.
VeriMed Implanted RFID Dogtags Studied By Military, VeriChip
   Not a pleasant story, but this science-fictional possibility is being studied by the US military.
Urban Cactus Architecture
   This unusual building calls other science-fictional buildings to mind.
Grow Your Own Furniture
   Christopher Castle has a uniquely green solution to creating furniture the all-natural way.
DAVID Freeware Laser Range Scanning
   Excellent software package solves problems that only science fiction authors attempted a generation ago.
NextEngine 3D Scanner Captures Your World
   This device provides excellent three-dimensional CAD files when presented with small objects.
RapLeaf, Whuffie and Strakh
   What is the best way to apportion goods between people in a society? How about starting with a reputation manager?
SHOW Lensless PicoP Projector World's Smallest
   This amazing little device was foreseen thirty-five years ago by SF Grandmaster Jack Vance.
Treepee Crude By Iszic Standards
   Your chances for elegant living in trees are better, now, with the introduction of the Treepee.
Ithaa Undersea Restaurant Review And Video
   I wrote an article on this unique restaurant several years ago, but I recently ran across more information.
Toshiba LED Pico Projector
   Forty years ago, this was a science-fictional item.
DoCoMo Cellphone Projector
   This looks like a pretty cool way to see movies in your cubicle, or make a slide presentation without a lot of extra gear.
FlowerBot Robotic Flower Follows And Grabs
   Neat little robot looks just like a flower; take a look at the video to see it work.
Walking House Ambles Away From Disaster
   Fascinating project puts a robotic base under an ancient lifestyle.
Terminator Seeds Deployed To Iraq
   Order 81 provides the authority to require Iraqi farmers to use genetically altered seeds that do not produce naturally viable offspring.
Reactogon Synthesizer - Chain Reactive Performance Arpeggiator
   Fascinating musical interface is a cross between a board game and an instrument.
Energy Cannon Now On Order
   These lightweight laser-based energy weapons should be able to shoot down tactical targets like surface-to-air missiles and rockets.
RealView 3D Scanner - For Your Desk
   This handy little desktop wonder can bring at least the external details of any object (that fits) right in to the digital world.
Samsung W7900 Show Cell Phone Digital Projector
   Video shows an impressive little projector inside a cell phone; wouldn't you rather watch your pocket videos on a larger screen?
Reputation As Property
   Whether you say 'whuffie' or 'strakh,' young and old sf fans understand the value of reputation.
Yellow Treehouse Cafe - A Tree House Restaurant
   Made for a TV ad, this functioning treehouse restaurant would please the Iszic, perhaps.
Hotelicopter Hovering Hotel
   This clever fake also has a nicely 'shopped video.
Pooktre Living Garden Chair
   Why not just grow your furniture? Forget all that tedious sawing and polishing.
Human-Injectable Satellite Tracking Chip
   Unfortunately, someone has tried to patent a fifty year-old idea of Jack Vance's; we could all live without it, even as Vance's character would have preferred in the novel.
AMOLED E-Passport W/Rotating Mugshot
   This active matrix organic light emitting diode is no mere digital hokey-pokey; it's a three-dimensional driver's license photo, or (as Jack Vance might call it) a tri-type record.
Aeryon Scout UAV Gets Upgrades
   This little UAV has come a long way in just a year; it's a pretty close match to one of Jack Vance's ideas.
Coolpix S1000pj Projector Camera
   This camera does more than point-and-shoot; it is a projector and camera all in one. I think Jack Vance had this one designed - in his mind - about forty years ago.
Arena Salix Pavillion Willow Architecture
   Graceful structures made of materials that mock our ability to create self-healing coatings or concrete.
Eye-bot Lands On Your Ceiling
   Yes, look up - what's that? A ceiling fan you didn't know you had? No, it's a surveillance drone with excellent autonomous capabilities. With video. Smile for the camera!
'Tofu' Chair Inspired By Plant Cells
   Reveal the plant cell-inspired chair within the carved block of 'tofu. This design won the red dot design award in Singapore this year.
Parajet SkyCar Adventure
   Unlike most flying cars, you can actually place an order for one of these right now.
Ikaros Solar Sail Works!
   The first push from sunlight has been felt by Japan's Ikaros spacecraft.
Solar-Photon Hoop Sails For Extrasolar Travel
   Space tech from the 1950's and the sf of the early 1960's is brushed off for possible use.
Memory-Erasing Drugs
   Do you have memories that you would rather not be able to access? This researcher has a possible technique.
Baubotanik - Construction Botany - Builds Bridges
   'A dwelling must be all of a unit—the walls, the drainage, the decor grown in!' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Medical Monitoring With Flexible Electronic 'Tattoos'
   Not only incredibly thin, but also 'structured into a serpentine shape' that allows them to deform without breaking.
Klout Score Measures Your Influence
   Based on 10 networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare.
'World's Heaviest Woman' Title Sought
   To balance out the World's Greatest Losers, we find the world's most serious gainers.
Living Bridges Grown From Trees
   Some are one hundred feet in length, and support up to fifty people at a time.
Drones Stick Tight, Remember Your Face
   This technology makes drones smarter.
The KEN Diet - Eat Nothing And Love It!
   So, are you thinking of Jem'Hadar or Meks?
Galaxy Beam Smartphone Projector
   "Ifness drew from his pocket a tube of dull black metal an inch in diameter, four inches long."
I Want A Curiosity Rover Sky Crane!
   'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
World's First 3D Printing 'Photo Booth'
   'On the counter-top appeared a three-dimensional replica of Farr.'- Jack Vance, 1954.
QuickScann3D Has Your Full Body Duplicate
   '... In a glass dome a three-dimensional simulacrum of himself six inches high took form.'- Jack Vance, 1954.
Living Root Bridges Of India
   Grow your own infrastructure and housing using ecologically sound materials.
China's Crab Walker Robot Tank In Firing Mode
   'The mechanism was to consist of eighteen segments, each equiped with a pair of legs...'- Jack Vance, 1964.
The Living Tree House
   'There were trees comprised of a central columnar trunk and four vast leaves...'- Jack Vance, 1954.
Mini Statues Of You From 3D Images
   '...A three-dimensional simulacrum of himself six inches high took form.'- Jack Vance, 1954.
MIT 3D Scanner - 1000x Improvement?
   '... Feeler-planes brushed down...' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Scanify 3D Scanner For You!
   '... Feeler-planes brushed down...' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Unrolling The Filmy Materials Of Space Tech
   'When unfolded and unrolled... it became a tough, gleaming film.' - Jack Vance, 1962.
Ancient Russian Walking Excavator Would Be Perfect RV
   I don't need it to go fast, it just needs to amble along.
China's Social Credit System - A Facebook-1984 Mashup
   'Prestige, face, mana, repute, glory: the Sirenese word is strakh.' - Jack Vance, 1976.
A New Way To Run Into Things
   'He made an adjustment, pointed the tube at the wall beside Etzwane, and projected a cone of light.' - Jack Vance, 1971.
Osmiridium Sounds Like Science Fiction (But It's Not!)
   I can't resist science-fictional elements. Especially when they're real.
Chinese Steal American Seeds From Our Fields
   'The Iszic maintain a jealously guarded monopoly...'
Drone-Based Aerial Hammock
   'The observation vehicle... was suspended by a pair of cables from the kite-copter.' - Jack Vance, 1952.
Elon Musk's Traffic Tunnel Challenge Is Boring
   'The car vibrated... threading the maze of local tubes.' - Jack Vance, 1954.
China Requires Social Credit Codes Of Live Stream Users
   'Every man has his characteristic strakh...' - Jack Vance, 1976.
Biohybrid Robotics USArmy Adds Muscle Tissue To Robots
   'Great rectangular slabs of muscle, slung into a rectangular frame.' - Jack Vance, 1967.
Carver EV Single Person Microcar Leans In
   'Farr paid his fare, summoned a one-man car...' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Atomic Force Microscopy Works On Living Cells
   'He stood rigid as feeler-planes brushed down his body.' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Biohybrid Robot Combines Living Muscle With Artificial Materials
   '...great rectangular slabs of muscle, slung into a rectangular frame.' - Jack Vance, 1967.

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