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Science Fiction in the News Articles related to the works of David Brin

David Brin (b. 1950) is an American science fiction writer. He has won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. He holds a Bachelor of Science in astronomy, a masters degree in applied physics and PhD in space science. Perhaps his most famous novels are the Uplift series. His 1985 novel The Postman was made into a major motion picture. 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:

Cream Encourages Your Immune System
   A cream that encourages the body's immune system to destroy cancer cells has been released for general use in Australia.
Electrodynamic Tethers: Clean Up Debris - Power or Boost Spacecraft
   An electrodynamic tether (EDT) is a simple idea, but one with an amazing number of uses. You can power your ship, speed up or slow down.
'Pleistocene Park' For Woolly Mammoths?
   Scientists with the Mammoth Creation Project hope to find a frozen woolly mammoth specimen with sperm DNA. The sperm DNA would then be injected into a female elephant; by repeating the procedure with offspring, a creature 88% mammoth could be produce
Futurist Gets Around To Digital Immortality
   Ian Pearson, head of the Futurology unit at BT, claims that the wealthy will be able to download their minds into computers by 2050. Science fiction writers have been making the same claim since the 1960's.
Spider Blood In Amber Brings Jurassic Park Closer
   Is it possible to get DNA from the blood of this ancient spider.
AI Software 'Robot' Lawyers Next Year
   Software lawyers from Brin novel are just around the corner.
PocketCaster First Live Video Webcast From Cellphone
   Now anyone can stream video around the world.
Planetary Annihilation Chances 'Totally Miniscule'
   Black holes generated beneath the Earth's surface? I sense no danger here...
Bionic Dolphins And Whale Waldoes
   Amazing prototype submersible is not your father's water toy; this baby's got a Corvette engine.
UK Officers Wear Brin's True-Vu Lenses
   I think David Brin called this one about sixteen years ago; Britain really has a thing about surveillance...
Innespace Dolphin Boat Breaks The Surface
   This is another cool dolphin boat - closer to a product this time.
'Expert System' Found Practicing Law Without License
   Court of Appeals confirms earlier court ruling that software was practicing law without a license.
Glasses Camera With Digital Video Recorder
   These glasses are an almost perfect match for David Brin's True-vu lenses from his 1990 novel Earth.
Eye-Fi Equals SD Memory Card Plus Wi-Fi
   Amazing device for its size - it's a memory card... no, it's a network connectivity device... actually, both.
Video Vigilantes Upload Crime Videos
   Vigilantes now carry video cameras, uploading the evidence to the Internet.
WCCTV 3G Covert Backpack - A Surveillance Vest
   This little item could be used for surveillance, yes, but also sousveillance. And it has a built-in panic button.
Audeo Neckband Voiceless Phone Calls
   The new neckband allows you to 'think' and speak. This will really mess up the 'Can you hear me now?' cell phone pitch; you'll just watch the guy sitting there.
Performance Improving Self Contained Exoskeleton for Swimming (PISCES)
   The military hopes to open up the underwater realm with mechanical super frogmen; fans of Brin's 'Sundiver' may find this familiar.
Brando Spy Glassses Have Camera, Player Built-in
   Possibly first occurrence of a pair of glasses with both camera and player built into the frames.
Pharm Animals - Engineered Goat Makes Drugs In Milk
   Amazing genetically engineered goats are the USDA's first approved 'pharm animals' - or fabricows.
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?
Wrong Tomorrow - A Brin Predictions Registry?
   This site keeps track of predictions, and might help us separate the seers from the blowhards.
GandhiCam For Blackberry Auto-Uploads Sousveillance
   Interesting application turns ordinary Blackberry into a civil resistance tool.
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.
Inflatable Space Tower Prototype Assembled
   A twenty-foot prototype of an inflatable tower that could potentially reach out of the atmosphere has fans of David Brin's Sundiver interested.
Laser-Based Mosquito Killer Demonstrated
   First public demonstration of a 'bee-zapper' ala David Brin at TED conference.
'Invisibles' Provides Tactile Feedback For VR
   This is just the kind of prototype system that could give you you virtual reality world.
FrontlineSMS Legal Justice Via Cell Phone
   These remote lawyer programs are just the start - wait until they come up with a 'virtual counsel'.
Polaroid GL20 Video Sunglasses
   Lady Gaga demonstrates this product, which she designed with Polaroid.
Legal 'e-Discovery' Software Replaces Lawyers
   Your virtual counsel will see you now.
'Police POV' Uses On-Officer Cameras
   Check out this new police reality television show; it uses technology introduced decades ago by sf writers and movie makers.
ZionEyez HD Camera Glasses
   In case you were wondering what those Flip video camera engineers have been up to lately.
Genetically Engineered Cell Is A Living Laser
   This cell can emit tiny short pulses of laser light.
The Garbage Mines Of Ghana
   'They break down electronics with hammers and hands.'
Woolly Mammoths To Be Created For 'Pleistocene Park'?
   Will mammoths thunder down the plains, as they once did?
Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
   '...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'- David Brin, 1990.
Oceanwings For Underwater Human Flight
   'He flexed his legs, the massive flukes thrust back jerkily in response...'- David Brin, 1979.
Hungry? Grow Nutritious Insects At Home
   '...I balked when my wife served me termites.'- David Brin, 1994.
Dead Cellphone? Try Solar-Powered Public Charging Stations
   'Then he saw the geek ... leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'- David Brin, 1990.
inFORM Dynamic Shape Output Device
   Like that pushpin device you remember, but supercharged.
Lapel Cameras For LAPD Officers
   'Every move they made, were being transmitted to their home unit...'- David Brin, 1990.
UK Internet Filters Default To 'Family-Friendly'
   'People bought personalized filter programs...'- David Brin, 1990.
Bookies Let You Place Your Bets On the Future!
   I'll bet you feel strongly enough about at least one of these bets to want to put your money down.
Bullied UK Student Uses Sunglass Video For Case
   'Watching, all the time watching... goggle-eye geeks...'- David Brin, 1990.
Law Firms To Undergo 'Structural Collapse' Due Artificially Intelligent Systems
   'I want my lawyer program.'- David Brin, 1990.
VirtualGreen Putting Simulator Like Brin's Needle-Gym
   'My eyes saw a tiny, off-white chamber, its coarse floor of needles mimicking a steep hillside...'- David Brin, 1994.
Automated Treadmill Adjusts To Your Pace
   'The auto-treadmill's bumps and gullies matched...'- David Brin, 1994.
NASA's Subvocal Speech System
   'She took a subvocal input device from its rack...'- David Brin, 1990.
DoNotPay Lawyer Program Contests Parking Tickets
   'I want my lawyer program.' - David Brin, 1990.
Snap Specs - Snapchat Spectacles - Are Video Glasses
   'The old woman laid her wire-knitting aside and fixed them with the bug-eyed, opaque gape...' David Brin, 1990.
Smartflower Solar Panel Unfolds In Video
   '...the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.' - David Brin, 1990.
'Do Not Pay' Chatbots To Replace Law Firm Associates?
   'I want my lawyer program.' - David Brin, 1990.
NanoRacks Space Station Module Concept Validated
   Space junk into space architecture.
Mealworms Food Of The Future
   Get your grubs on.
MIT Headset Lets You Communicate Without Speaking
   'The subvocal read nerve signals, letting her enter words by just beginning to will them...' - David Brin, 1990.
Augmented and-or Virtual Reality Shoes From Google
   'The auto-treadmill's bumps and gullies matched whatever terrain the goggles showed me...' - David Brin, 1994.
Legal Profession Now Fairly Bristling With AI
   'The virtual counsel appeared to be about forty-five years old and prosperous.' - Greg Bear, 2007
Bring Back Extinct Animals! Sort of.
   'The worldwide network of genetic arks had a surfeit of pachyderms...' - David Brin, 1990
African Gray Parrot Given Vehicle To Drive
   It's an old story, but it "checks out", as fans say.
Solar Trees In Chisinau Moldova
   '...a sunshade-photocell collector.' - David Brin, 1990.
SolarBotanic Tree For Solar Energy - Would You Need A Forest, Or Just One?
   'The slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...' - David Brin, 1990.
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
   '... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.' - David Brin, 1990.
Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses
   '...the bug-eyed, opaque gape of her True-Vu lenses.' - David Brin, 1990.
BeamBike Solar Power Canopy For Electric Bikes
   'The slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...' - David Brin, 1990.

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