Science Fiction in the News:
Science and Technology News

Bolshoi: Largest Computer Simulation Of The Universe
'A machine able literally to contain the Universe Itself within it's innumerable memory banks.' (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Warrior Web: Superman Underwear From DARPA
With quasi-passive regenerative actuation technologies! (re: Joe Haldeman)

Drones Stick Tight, Remember Your Face
This technology makes drones smarter. (re: Jack Vance)

BOLT Bipedal Ornithopter Robot
Remarkable video shows progress in flapping wing robotic MAVs. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Autom Weight Loss Robot Ready
This device can help all of us with our fitness goals. (re: Clamp)

The Garbage Mines Of Ghana
'They break down electronics with hammers and hands.' (re: David Brin)

Self-Propelled 'Microrobots' For The Blood Stream
Keep your fingers crossed, Fantastic Voyage fans. Your day will come. (re: Isaac Asimov)

LOBIN Intelligent T-Shirts
At some point, we'll all wear intelligent t-shirts. (re: Rudy Rucker)

Living Bridges Grown From Trees
Some are one hundred feet in length, and support up to fifty people at a time. (re: Jack Vance)

Smart Window Goes Clear Or Opaque In Seconds
Warmer in winter, cooler in summer, manufactured in a non-toxic manner - what's not to like? (re: Frank Herbert)

E-Health Point Telemedicine In Rural India
Amazing story of a medical start-up that provides affordable health care services in rural India. (re: EM Forster)

Electric Brain Stimulation Quickens Learning
Faster learning is as close as the nearest electrical outlet. (re: James Blish)

'Bubble Galaxy' NGC 3521
This doesn't have to do with prediction, but I love what sf writers do with this idea. (re: Edmond Hamilton)

AI Chatbots Teach English Online
Manga-style online 'chat robots' will help people learn English, 24x7. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Printed Artificial Capillary Blood Vessels
We need these for the lager, more complex artiforgs we've already made. (re: Larry Niven)

Super Bainite Armor Steel
'There's a sheet of just plain Nothing between us and it's impenetrable.' (re: Theodore Sturgeon)

Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering Project
Save the planet from global warming the all-natural way. Is there such a thing as geomimicry? (re: Neal Stephenson)

Emotion Detector Like PKD's Voight-Kampff Empathy Test
This device was predicted by Philip K. Dick forty years ago. (re: Philip K. Dick)

'World's Heaviest Woman' Title Sought
To balance out the World's Greatest Losers, we find the world's most serious gainers. (re: Jack Vance)

Klout Score Measures Your Influence
Based on 10 networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare. (re: Jack Vance)

Innovega IOptik Micro-Display Contact Lenses
Interesting new take on getting us our lightweight, unobtrusive augmented reality displays. (re: Niven and Barnes)

Narrative Science And Phil Dick's Homeostatic Newspaper
'The structure... was once a great homeostatic newspaper, the New York Times.' (re: Philip K. Dick)

The Infinite Adventure Machine Generates Fairy Tale Plots
Run out of ideas since J.K. Rowling finished the Harry Potter series? Let artificial intelligence help you out. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Harvesting Power From Flying Insects
DARPA has been looking for a way to power the devices that will be carried by tiny HI-MEMS cyborg insects. (re: Thomas A. Easton)

Author Barely Stays Ahead Of The Future With Transparent Jeans
Mainstream authors can barely keep up; old-school sf authors have already come and gone. (re: Gary Shteyngart)

Wooden Mirror Like A Kinotrope
The spinning wooden blocks are pixels. (re: William Gibson and Bruce Sterling)

Star Trek-Style Sick Bay Bed
Dr. McCoy, your sick bay bed is almost ready. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

PIGORASS Pneumatic Quadruped Robot
'The mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep...' (re: Ray Bradbury)

Nexus S Directs SPHERES On ISS
Now that NASA has the 'seeker remotes' from Star Wars under control, how about those light sabers? (re: George Lucas)

Surveillance Drone Bird Crashes
If it really is a surveillance drone, whose is it? (re: Roger Zelazny)

Robobee Learns The Waggle Dance
Karl von Frisch, are you watching this? (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Implanted Glucose Sensor Glows Thru Skin
This approach may facilitate development of long-term, fluorescent, implanted continuous glucose sensors. (re: William Gibson)

Bulletproof Human Skin Works! Kind of.
As Achilles knows, it's important to have bulletproof skin all over. Just saying. (re: Various)

BookTrack Adds Sound To Books
I really don't think this is a very good idea. Readers? (re: Philip K. Dick)

Energy-Harvesting Shoes With Reverse Electrowetting
A new energy-harvesting technology that could be embedded in your shoes. (re: Frank Herbert)

Dogs Sniff For Cancer
Take a whiff, Fido! (re: John Brunner)

Samsung Cites 'Space Odyssey' Newspad Against iPad In Patent Suit
Should a science fiction movie be used as 'prior art' in a patent dispute? (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

IBM's Neurosynaptic Computing Chips
Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE). (re: Isaac Asimov)

Sony DEV-5 Digital HD Binoculars
Perfect for looking for Bantha and Sand People. (re: George Lucas)

Hexapod Robot Scuttles Through Beethoven
How does a hexapod robot get to Carnegie Hall? See the video, but it takes more than practice. (re: Herbert Goldstone)

Micro-Robots Self-Assemble From Tiny Particles
'The bits were in motion.' Philip K. Dick (re: Philip K. Dick)

Musical Robotic Head
'An anthropomorphic robotic head with a human-like face and a sheet of artificial skin.' (re: William Gibson)

MABEL Robot Biped Now Runs Faster Than You
'It pushes the state of the art in bipedal mechanism design.' (re: Various)

Lockheed Samurai MAV Drone
That's no maple seed; that's a micro-air vehicle. (re: Various)

Medical Monitoring With Flexible Electronic 'Tattoos'
Not only incredibly thin, but also 'structured into a serpentine shape' that allows them to deform without breaking. (re: Jack Vance)

Sifteo Tiles
The cubes communicate with one another wirelessly. (re: Jeff Noon)

i2R E-Paper Is Erasable
This display technology is erasable paper - in e-paper format. (re: Greg Bear)

Firefly Cameras Shot From Grenade Launcher
How about one launched from space? (re: Robert Silverberg)

Real TIme Crime Tracking Algorithm
Holy computer crimefighters, Batman! (re: Various)

Robot Daycare With Robot Nannies?
Would you turn your young children over to robots? (re: Philip K. Dick)

Don't Drive Your Self-Driving Car
Don't try to drive your self-driving car, Googlers. Lesson learned. (re: Robert Heinlein)

RIBA Robot for Interactive Body Assistance
Robot nurses are friendly and strong enough to pick you up. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

Bioelectronic Nose To Have Biomimetic Chemical Sensors
How many uses can you think of for a bioelectronic nose? (re: Michael Crichton)

Mobile Devices At Core Of Future Appliances
Just wait till all of your appliances start talking back. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Swede's Home Nuclear Reactor On Back Burner
'His interest in nuclear physics was awakened as a teenager.' (re: Various)

Shape-Changing Metal Antenna
Once the skin is ruptured, the metal flows extremely quickly – in a few milliseconds. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Texas Couple Married By Computer
'Do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife Y/N?' (re: Robert Silverberg)

'Robotic Mule' Ready For Duty, Sir
It uses ladar to identify the unit it needs to follow and drives off autonomously behind. (re: Anthony Boucher)

Mushroom Death Suit Consumes You
A flesh-eating Infinity Mushroom-based item of apparel. (re: Edwin K. Sloat)

Menlo Device By Microsoft Tracks You Precisely
This little gizmo can track you everywhere, indoors and out. (re: Jack Williamson)

'Predict Your Death' Paper Withdrawn
How long have _you_ got? (re: Robert Heinlein)

Songdo IBD Smart City
How smart do you want your city? (re: John W. Campbell)

First DNA-based Artificial Neural Network
Artificial intelligence at a molecular scale. (re: Greg Bear)

Small Spherical Robots Needed For Radiation Leak Testing
Spherical robots are definitely the way to go. (re: Various)

Soft Biocompatible Memory Device
Perfect for DARPA's GummiBots, this device also holds promise as a way to achieve implantable memory devices. (re: Various)

VoltAir Electric Aircraft Concept
An electric powered aircraft might be quieter and more comfortable. (re: John W. Campbell)

Brain Scans Reveal 'Uncanny Valley'
Brain scans reveal the basis for the human reluctance to accept humanlike androids robots. (re: Various)

Human-like Brain For Robots?
Could our own brains inspire research that leads to robots that can think for themselves in challenging situations? These researchers think so. (re: Isaac Asimov)

CFM LEAP Engine Perfect For Podracing
Just watch out for those wrenches thrown by competitors (I'm looking at you, Sebulba!) (re: George Lucas)

Teeth From Stem Cells
This research may someday permit your dentist to grow new teeth for you from your own stem cells. (re: William Gibson)

JediBot Robot Arm Senses The Force
How many novels can you think of that combine swords and robots? (re: Frank Herbert)

Our Galaxy's Habitable Zone
How many habitable planets are there in the Milky Way? This paper presents interesting research in this area. (re: E.E. 'Doc' Smith)

Interactive Storytelling On iPad
The iPad moves further into a science-fictional future. (re: Neal Stephenson)

AI Wins At Civilization II By Reading Manual
World domination is so much more satisfying than a nice game of chess. (re: Iain Banks)

Flexible, Transparent Speakers From Graphene
See through your speakers, someday. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Synthetic Trachea From Patient's Own Cells Implanted
Amazing success in Stockholm; the patient has been discharged from the hospital. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Philips Luminous Textile Panel Soft Cells
Luminous textiles that work with sound waves. (re: Vernor Vinge)

NASA's Forward Osmosis Bag (For Stillsuits?)
Perfect for astronauts - and maybe Fremen. (re: Frank Herbert)

Auti Interactive Toy For Autistic Children
This little toy may be of special interest to Anne McCaffrey fans. (re: Anne McCaffrey)

iBag Urine Bag Tweets When Full
A top hospital tweeter? Collectively. (re: David H. Keller)

Can We Control Forgetfulness?
You can forget on purpose, with proper training. (re: )

Accoustic Cloak Achieves Sonic Invisibility
The ultimate achievement in being seen but not heard. (re: Robert Heinlein)

South Korean Students Go All Tablet By 2015
Today's textbooks weigh 5 times what they did when I was a child; we need to give children a break from the fifty pound backpack. (re: Orson Scott Card)

Evolution Machine Compresses Eons Into Days
This device, which uses a technology called MAGE, dramatically increases the probability of finding useful variations on natural organisms. (re: Edmond Hamilton)

Fast Entropy, PHE And Psychohistory
Is Isaac Asimov's psychohistory a viable idea? This scholar with degrees in economics, law and physics thinks so. (re: Isaac Asimov)

PossessedHand Borgs Your Hands To Teach You
The future of hand learning is now here; let the Machine take control of your hands. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Lovotics Engineers Love Betwixt Humans And Robots
Can there be real feelings of love between humans and robots? (re: Lester del Rey)

Robot Skin Uses Hexagonal Sensors (Video)
Robots that work in crowded environments with human beings will need to have a good tactile awareness. (re: Roger Zelazny)

SIlver Pen Writes Flexible Circuits
Write your own circuits informally. (re: Niven and Purnelle)

Rollin' Justin Robot Catches Thrown Ball
This highly dexterous robot from Germany has great hands, uh, manipulators. (re: Various)

Robotic Security Guard Waves You In
This clever kiosk may be greeting you as you go into work one day. But only if you belong. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Robot Vacuums Need Personalities!
Roomba, meet Marvin the Robot from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (re: Douglas Adams)

Sound Charge T-Shirt Uses Sound Energy
Now, noisy streets and loud clubs are just what you need - to recharge your phone. (re: Murray Leinster)

D-Dalus Aircraft Has Contra-Rotating Cylindrical Turbines
The aircraft can move in any direction, or hover, or glue itself to the deck of a ship upon landing. (re: Victor Appleton II)

Lytro Living Pictures Camera Revolution
Astonishing consumer light-field camera will be available later this year in a point and shoot model. (re: Ridley Scott)

Memory Implant Records And Plays Back
This device is being tested in rats, but may be coming to a human brain near you. (re: Lois McMaster Bujold)

Robotic Lawn Mower Competition Won By CWRU Cutters
Ah, the smell of freshly mown grass - and well-oiled robots! (re: Clifford Simak)

Kilobot Robot Swarm
Someday, we'll find robots organized like this underfoot. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Is Aimi Eguchi Real or Virtual? Updated!
Japanese audiences are puzzled; is she an idoru? (re: William Gibson)

Insomnia? Try Cooling Your Brain
Insomnia can be very difficult to treat; this idea may provide a non-prescription answer. (re: Larry Niven)

Spherical Flying Robot Hovers, Flies At 40 MPH
This flying spherical robot is highly maneuverable, indoors and out. (re: Larry Niven)

Genetically Engineered Cell Is A Living Laser
This cell can emit tiny short pulses of laser light. (re: David Brin)

BBC's iPhone App For Field Reporters
The BBC is adapting the iPhone for their own journalistic purposes. (re: Larry Niven)

Robot Roommates Shop For, Prepare Breakfast
Bavarian sausage lovers, your breakfast is almost ready! (re: Anthony Boucher)

Invisibility Cloaks Get Bigger
Now you see it; full-size invisibility cloaks are almost within our grasp. (re: Ray Cummings)

Biomaterial Mimics Human Tissue
Feel comfortable in your new skin. (re: Frank Herbert)

Voyagers Are Now In the Heliosheath
NASA reports new phenomena at the edge of the solar system. (re: Samuel R. Delany)

Russian ATM Knows When You Lie
This ATM knows more about you than you might think; oh, and be sure to stick to the truth. (re: William Gibson)

ZionEyez HD Camera Glasses
In case you were wondering what those Flip video camera engineers have been up to lately. (re: David Brin)

'Cambridge Crude' Semi-Solid Flow Cell Battery
This could change the way we recharge our electric cars - from -plug in- back to -fill'er up!- (re: Various)

Sega Wappy Dog Robot Puppy
Does your dog have 350 different responses? This dog does. (re: Various)

Artificial Microbrain Memory Cells
What would you do with additional brain cells? (re: Peter Watts)

Gas Mining on Uranus
Some ideas are just too good to waste. (re: George Lucas)

CyberWar May Require Military Response
Cyber attacks may lead to combat. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Origami Phone Like Ultraviolet
This lightweight, foldable phone concept might come to a kiosk near you. (re: Various)

Newstweek Notification Distorter
This small device allows the hacker to subtly distort web page information. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Dynamic Cloth Folding By High-Speed Multifingered Hands
Robots flip-fold a towel almost as well as you can. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Google Wallet Makes Your Phone Your Wallet
Tap to pay by Mastercard or Google Prepaid Card. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Adelopod Amphibious Tumbling Robot
Wabblers, start your engines, (re: Murray Leinster)

Amazon Sells More E-Books Than Books
Truly mind-boggling development at Amazon. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Self-Healing Chair(bot)
Perfect for dorm rooms, and other hazardous environments. (re: Various)

Sony Flexible Color E-Paper
SF writers love the idea of e-paper. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Somnus Sleep Shirt - Sweet Dreams
Get your REM on. (re: Rudy Rucker)

China's Weather Modification Office
Engineering the rain with artillery. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Lingodroid Robots Invent Spoken Language
Robots can communicate quite well with each other, creating their own words as they go. (re: George Lucas)

Google IO Cloud Robotics With PR2 Robot From Willow Garage
No need to worry about the processing power of your robot, when it can connect to the cloud. (re: Harry Harrison)

Rolling Robot's Helicopter Transformation
It's sort of like Kipling's Marine... (re: Philip K. Dick)

TellApart Ads Follow You On The Web
Can a computer predict that you will be a customer, justifying its pursuit of you across the web? (re: William Gibson)

Pneuborn Infant Robots
Baby bots are cute; but do they grow up fast? (re: Brian Aldiss)

Galaxy Tab 10.1 vs. iPad 2 vs. Clarke's Newspad
What a world we live in; science-fictional devices are readily available. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

'Schizophrenic' Computer Aids Researchers
In which a computer is afflicted, with human brain research the beneficiary. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Kiss Transmission Device Latest In Electro-Communication
Actually, based on the video, I'd have to call it a 'French kissing' device. (re: Frederik Pohl)

PaperPhone Uses Bend Gestures
Fascinating prototype uses a unique gestural interface. (re: William Gibson)

Secret Silent Stealth Helicopter
High tech used in the raid on bin Laden's compound. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Directing Microrobot Swarms
All the robots you can fit on the head of a pin. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

What Retinal Implants May Not Replace
'Such eyes are metal and he is flesh ...such a union must be sinful' according to the Fremen. (re: Frank Herbert)

Autonomous Cars In Nevada?
'A person is not required to actively drive an autonomous vehicle.' (re: Robert Heinlein)

Memory Erasure Thanks To Snails
Is it possible to erase individual memories? This research may give the answer. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Denise, Your Virtual Assistant
Remarkable software gives you access to the virtual person you've been looking For. (re: Robert Heinlein)

SpaceX Dragon To Land On Any Planet
A space craft should be able to 'land on its fins' and take off again, don't you think? (re: Robert Heinlein)

DustBot Video Shows Robotic Future Of Trash
This robot is ready to help clean up the planet, one household's recyclables at a time. (re: Harry Harrison)

'Warning Signs' T-Shirt Is CO2 Detector
Why not let others see your concerns? (re: Rudy Rucker)

Fog Harvesting For Fresh Water
Like water off your back - if you're a Namib beetle (re: Frank Herbert)

Phage-Assisted Continuous Evolution
Clever humans create 'directed evolution. (re: Theodore Sturgeon)

Carbon Nanotube Synapse Circuit Like Human Neuron
Could scientists build a synthetic brain? (re: Isaac Asimov)

Graphene Paper 10x Stronger Than Steel
This new material is paper-thin and super-strong. (re: Jules Verne)

Lifelike Robotic Fingers For Social Touching
These new devices will allow people with prosthetic hands and arms to interact socially in ways that most of us haven't thought about. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Look Forward: IRS 'Pre-Audit' Would Predict Tax Cheating
'All day long the idiots babbled, imprisoned in their special high-backed chairs.' No, wait. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Blood Flow Simulation Detailed By Supercomputer
'Previous computer models haven't been able to accurately account for, say, the motion of the blood cells bending or buckling as they ricochet off the walls.' (re: Various)

Grow An Eyeball In A Dish?
Maybe cells know more than we think. (re: Ridley Scott)

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