Science Fiction in the News Articles
related to the works of

Harry Harrison

Harry Harrison was born in 1925 in Stamford, Ct. He worked in sf as an illustrator before becoming an editor. He wrote short fiction under various pseudonyms; he also wrote for syndicated comic strips. He is probably best known for the Stainless Steel Rat series; his novel Make Room! Make Room! formed the basis of the sf film Soylent Green.

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:

Out-Of-Work Blue Collar Robots Need Your Help
   'His legs relaxed with a rattle as he cut off all power below his waist... and ran his eye down the Help Wanted - Robot column...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
Koolio: Autonomous Refrigerator Robot
   Professors work hard - and they deserve refreshment. At the Machine Intelligence Lab at Benton Hall at the University of Florida, they are served by Koolio, the autonomous refrigerator Robot.
RFID-Maki: Easy Payment Sushi
   In Japan, eating and automation go together like, well, like raw fish and rice.
Crime-Fighting Computer - The Game's Afoot 24x7
   Computer scientists in Chicago have created the Classification System for Serial Criminal Patterns (CSSCP), a computer system that uses pattern-recognition software to sift through case records to find the link (and the perpetrator) connecting differ
Teddy Bear Robotic Companions
   A plush robotic teddy bear sat on display at TechFest, a two-day Microsoft event that started today. Steven Bathiche, a research and development program manager, is looking to go beyond the bears you know.
MYO Armband Provides Control For Your Phone, UAV
   'Sensitive actuators touch the tendons in your right wrist.'- Harry Harrison, 1960.
Chatty Tom Talking Bear From Tomy
   Talking teddy bears? Harrison and Aldiss wrote about them in the sixties.
T-Rot Thinking Robot Tends Bar, Chats
   Finally, a real live bartending robot, who will mix and hand you your drink and listen to your troubles.
Car Seat Prototype Knows When You Are Sleepy
   This smart car seat will wake you up when you get sleepy behind the wheel - but will it get to market fast enough?
HRP-3 Promet Robot Blue Collar Style
   Robots need to be able to work in the real world, not just inside controlled environments.
Meet R BOT 001, Russia's New Robocop
   Russian militiamen turn to missile-shaped robotic police for help.
Robot Librarians In The Stacks
   I wonder what sort of capabilities this robot librarian might have when it comes to retrieving overdue books?
Smart Dressing Mirror RFID-Based mi-tu Fashion
   This system could make those endless hours of shopping go a lot faster.
Robot Arm With Fluidic Muscles
   Fascinating robotic arm technology is based on the human skeletal structure.
i-Snake Flexible Robot Surgeon Concept
   It sounds creepy, but the i-Snake idea has enough funding for a fair trial.
Blue Collar Bot Pumps Gas Update
   Remember those friendly gas station attendants of yesteryear? They're back and... they're robots. Updated with a new sf ref and video.
Humans! Tutor Computers And Robots In Your Spare Time
   Harry Harrison first described this in 1956; I notice that in the real future, no one is getting paid for it.
Artificial Neural Network Predicts Death Row Executions
   Slightly disturbing article about how computers can predict who will actually be executed on death row better than human observers.
reCAPTCHA Old Manuscripts Now!
   Humans come to the rescue of the machines; this program takes a human priority (sensing human input) and adds value.
Bombproof Trash Can Secures Rubbish
   These rubbish bins are not only protective, but informative. Coming soon to London streets.
DESIRE Trash-Tossing Robot
   This prototype robot is shown in a CeBIT video distinguishing trash from non-trash. That's better than early sfnal robots could do.
Responsive Mirror, Mirror On The Wall
   A special display lets users see themselves in two different sets of clothing at the same time.
DustCart Robotic Trash Can From DustBot
   This idea is a half-century old, but it's still a good one. The Italians press on in the area of urban hygiene.
Unemployed Robots Should Seek Work Autonomously
   For now, robots just stand idle when humans stop giving them work. SF writers have some suggestions, though.
Bloodbot Robot Takes Blood Samples
   This clever robot has come along just fifty years after Harry Harrison described the basic idea for readers of Fantastic Universe.
ROPID Has Serious 'Quick', Good Hang Time
   Quick little robot has good leaping ability and plenty of attitude.
Muscle-Computer Interface Video
   Excellent short video illustrates muscle-computer interfaces, as seen in sf (thanks, readers!).
Robot Sorts Plastic Recyclables With Laser
   This robot uses laser light to distinguish between plastics because human recyclers cannot.
Judges Who Google: The Tip Of The Iceberg?
   Just how connected should judges be? And when justice delayed is justice denied, how fast are human judges anyway?
Fujitsu Teddy Bear Robot Prototype Spotted
   It's lovable, it's cuddly, its - robotic.
Fujitsu Social Robot Bear Video
   Soon, this little robot will be ready for grandma and grandpa - or the grand kids.
Computers Need Your Help In Image Recognition
   Science fiction fans benefited from the work of Harry Harrison, who discussed the kinds of help that human beings could give to computers and robots fifty years ago.
Pi4-Workerbot Adapts Quickly
   This adaptable robot is available to fill in on those shifts where no short-term human help is available. No, it's not an American robot.
DustBot Video Shows Robotic Future Of Trash
   This robot is ready to help clean up the planet, one household's recyclables at a time.
Anti-Intoxicant Confers Quick Sobriety
   Research with rats may have implications for human drinkers.
Kinze Autonomy Project's Autonomous Tractors
   Will farms become safer with robots?
Cocoagraph Edible Photos Like Spatial-Postal Cards
   'Before Bill's startled gaze... the card was starting to swell.'
Meshworm Inches Toward You (Thanks, Harry Harrison)
   '...in operation it is not unlike the common earthworm.'
American Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Robots
   'Mankind treats us like machines... then melts us for scrap. There must be an end to this.'- Harry Harrison, 1959.
Bartendro Robot Bartender
   'He sipped the cognac that the robot bartender handed him...'- Alfred Bester, 1956.
ZenRobotics Sorts Trash With Artificial Intelligence
   'They're just plain lifting robots and not too brainy, but good enough to recognize most things they pick up...'- Harry Harrison, 1956.
Myo Armband Controller Just 149 Bucks
   'Actuators touch the tendons in your right wrist...'- Harry Harrison, 1960.
Robots Implore Humans For Help Online
   'Whenever a robot finds something it can't identify straight off... it puts whatever it is in the hopper outside your window.'- Harry Harrison, 1956.
Pengheng Space Capsule Hotel Staffed Entirely By Robots
   'A planet-wide chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.'- Harry Harrison, 1970.
Palcohol Powdered Alcohol - Try Or Ban?
   'I had a small can of powdered alcohol disguised as tooth powder...' - Harry Harrison, 1970.
Competing With Blue Collar Robots
   'With the chronic worry of the unemployed, he... ran his eye down the Help Wanted - Robot column...'- Harry Harrison, 1956.
CoBots - Collaborative Robots Ask Humans For Help
   'Whenever a robot finds something it can't identify... You give it a good look.'- Harry Harrison, 1956.
Henn-na Robot Hotel
   '... hotels that specialized in non-human service.'- Harry Harrison, 1970.
Robot-Based Trash Collection
   'Robots pick up the garbage and junk and load it in there...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
Israel Working On Tunnel Detection Snake Robots
   '...At the front end is a hard-edged orifice that drills a hole in the ground.' - Harry Harrison, 1962.
Myo-Controlled Prosthetic Arm
   'Sensitive actuators touch the tendons in your right wrist.'- Harry Harrison, 1960.
Meet Hugh, Your Robot Librarian
   'You'll find them only in the greatest libraries...' - Harry Harrison, 1962.
Autonomous Tractor Harvest-Ready
   '[He] dropped the handles of the plough that was plugged into the robomule...' - Harry Harrison, 1965.
Humans Help Robots Identify Recyclables
   'You give it a good look... then press the right button and in she goes.' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
Dubai Considers Robocop
   'This was a nice-looking hunk of machinery. - Harry Harrison, 1958.
ThreeForm 3D Scans And Digitally Simulates Customer Fashion
   '...A miracle of misapplied engineering caused his own face to appear on the illustrated figures dressed in trooper red.' - Harry Harrison, 1965.
Pooper Scooper Drone Robot Watchdog 1
   'Robots pick up the garbage and junk...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
Is 'The Pulsar Positioning System' Evidence For SETI?
   'For a hyperspace jump, you need at least four beacons for an accurate fix.' - Harry Harrison, 1959.
Dubai Mall Hires Robocop
   'This was as close as a robot could get to a cop in uniform, without being a joke.' - Harry Harrison, 1958.
DeepMind AI Baffled By Homer Simpson, Needs Human Help
   'Whenever a robot finds something it can't identify straight off...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
Audi Traffic Jam Pilot Knows If You're Sleeping
   'Even here, riding a garbage truck to eternity, the machine watched him...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
Robot Only Faster, Not Better, At Recycling
   'Whenever a robot finds something it can't identify straight off... it puts whatever it is in the hopper outside your window.' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
NASA SEXTANT First With X-Ray Nav In Space
   'You need at least four beacons for an accurate fix.' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
I Can't Resist Worm Robots
   'Seen close it was not completely flexible...' - Harry Harrison, 1962.
Alcarelle Synthetic Alcohol Like Star Trek Synthehol
   Bottoms up!
China Deploys Robot Traffic Police
   'The robot came up smooth and fast as a rocket...' - Harry Harrison, 1958.
Robothread Robotic Worms Crawling Through Your Brain
   Perfect for clot-busting in the human brain. No Raquel Welch and no lasers, though.
FlyZoo Robot Hotel By Alibaba
   '... hotels that specialized in non-human service.'- Harry Harrison, 1970.
Hail SmartCan! Your Trash Bin Takes Itself Out
   '...a waste can twenty feet away stirred into life.' - Harry Harrison, 1959.
Robot Garbage Trucks Visualized
   'It was a bulky, shining cylinder over twenty metres long.' - Harry Harrison, 1956
Fast Radio Bursts And Space Beacons For Interstellar Navigation
   'Every beacon has a code signal as part of its radiation...' - Harry Harrison, 1959.
Snakebot Burrows Underground, Thanks To Biomimicry Of Multiple Species
   'Seen close it was not completely flexible, but made instead of pivoted and smoothly finished segments.' Harry Harrison, 1962.
Xavier Robots On Patrol For 'Anti-Social Behavior'
   'This was as close as a robot could get to a cop in uniform.' Harry Harrison, 1958.
AI Robots Excel At Trash Sorting And Recycling
   'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
Hotels Turn To Robots As Human Workers Regroup
   'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.' - Harry Harrison, 1970.
Intelligent Trash Sorting By Robots Predicted Long Ago
   'Robots pick up the garbage and junk and load it in there...' - Harry Harrison, 1956.
Tesla's Optimus Robot Now Sorts Objects (I've Got A Job In Mind)
   'Then they press one of these here thirteen buttons...'
Hangzhou Robotic Trash Sorting
   '...good enough to recognize most things they pick up.' - Harry Harrison, 1956.

 

 

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