Science Fiction in the News:
Science and Technology News

Head-Coupled Perspective For iPad 2
Pretty nifty demo video shows how even the iPad 2 can create 3D images. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Aliens May Live In Black Holes
'An existence domain for the third kind of orbits is rather spacious.' (re: Frederik Pohl)

PocketCop Data Warehouse From Verizon
Bringing police work into the 21st century. (re: Charles Stross)

ACTUV Game From DARPA Seeks Ender Wiggin
Gamers! your talents are needed by your friends at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. (re: Orson Scott Card)

KMR-M6 Hexapod Robot
Take a look at the video to see how quick this six-legged robot really is. (re: Michael Crichton)

Location History Dashboard By Google
Make a map of your steps and check the statistics. (re: Jack Williamson)

iPet Companion Provides Remote Kitteh Interaction
Will your company require you to play with kittens on sanity breaks? (re: Philip K. Dick)

CSAIL Gets $7.5M To Develop Bird-Like UAV
The skies will one day be filled with them. (re: Greg Bear)

China Bans Time Travel-Based TV Shows
China's General Bureau of Radio, Film and Television has a problem with 'made up' stories. (re: Various)

StunRay Paralyzes With Light
This weapon has been around in different forms in sf for quite a while. (re: Michael Crichton)

'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. (re: David Brin)

Thanks For Being Open Apple, Amazon, Barnes And Noble
In which the author, a modern-day consumer, has a better-than-sfnal experience in shopping for a book. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Nanogenerator Intros New Energy Unit - The Pinch
Just the thing for the stillsuits of the future. (re: Frank Herbert)

Thermal Ligating System Welds Soft Tissue
This device seals and cuts soft tissue in one stroke. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

SmartBird Robotic Bird In Flight
Remarkable biomimetic robot from the Festo corporation (not Tyrell). (re: Philip K. Dick)

Bulletproof Human Skin
This unique art project might actually work. (re: Various)

Through The Crust, Into the Mantle
What's your favorite story of a visit to the interior of the Earth? (re: Lincoln Child)

Google And The Psychohistorians
'A further necessary assumption is that the human conglomerate be itself unaware of psychohistoric analysis...' (re: Isaac Asimov)

Is China Altering Web Traffic?
SF fans were prompted to think about this a generation ago. (re: Frank Herbert)

Artificial Muscles Power A Motor
I'm pretty sure I read about this idea in the Sixties. (re: Martin Caidin)

Quick-Charging Batteries Needed For Vehicles
3D films made by coating a surface with self-assembled nanoscale spheres may hold the answer to fast 'fill-ups' at vehicle recharging stations. (re: Philip Jose Farmer)

Voice Stress Detection In Emergency Callers
Take two stress pills and call me in the morning. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Reprogrammed Microbe Makes Butanol From Cellulose
Clostridium cellulolyticum likes chewing on biomass but does not normally make butanol. Now it does! (re: Hal Clement)

Take Control Of Cars Wirelessly
You think you have complete control over your car - but for how long? (re: Keith Laumer)

Active Electrostatic Radiation Shielding For Space Craft
You're going to need a shield out there; better get started. (re: John W. Campbell)

Prospero, Robotic Farmer
Fascinating new approach to the idea of mechanized agriculture. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Meal Assistance Robot Feeds You
'Please robot... I want some more.' Reader help is requested. (re: Various)

This Species Has Seven Sexes
Its seven sexes are rather prosaically named I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII. (re: William Tenn)

Single Atom Quantum Memory
Store the qubit from a polarised photon in a single atom of rubidium (re: Robert Heinlein)

Building The World Wide Mind
The mind in the cloud? This concept is explored in a new book. (re: Niven and Purnelle)

Your Computer Therapist Will See You Now
Computers are more helpful than ever. (re: James Blish)

Real-Life Fantastic Voyage
Remarkable research and development efforts let us see inside the living cell better than ever before. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Police Sketch Artist Database Software
Bringing a new technological twist to difficult human art. (re: Joseph Killeam)

Self-Charging Nao Robot Video
Nao learns to self-charge; I like the way he chills out while waiting for a full charge, too. (re: Stephen Barr)

Fracking Gas Companies Suspend Operations
Let's not tell DARPA about the 'terrain deformation' possibility. (re: Various)

Legal 'e-Discovery' Software Replaces Lawyers
Your virtual counsel will see you now. (re: David Brin)

Microcamera Big As Grain Of Salt
New manufacturing process yields tiny cameras no larger than a coarse grain of salt. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Cloned Pets For $150,000
If you had the chance, would you bring your pet back from the dead? (re: Aldous Huxley)

Google Cars Drive Faster, Safer Than You
This car reminds me of a predatory automobile from a recent story. (re: Daniel Suarez)

India To Issue One Million Aadhaar Biometric IDs Per Day
Soon, every unique citizen in India will also have a unique, government-issued biometric identification card. (re: Robert Heinlein)

LOPES Robotic Exoskeleton Assists Stroke Victims
This robotic exoskeleton is designed to both assist and assess stroke victims as they walk back from their illness. (re: Fritz Lieber)

Liquid Lens For Optical Coherence Microscopy
New device may make surgical removal and biopsy of small, possibly cancerous lesions obsolete. (re: Gene Roddenbaerry)

Cheetah Robot Will Run Faster Than Humans
I'd like to see a robot running at full speed for a cheetah, about sixty miles per hour. (re: William Gibson)

First Millimeter-Scale Computer System
Tiny wireless networks and implantable glaucoma eye pressure monitors are just two possible applications. (re: Various)

New Robot Skin Is Flexible, Sensitive, Solar-Powered
It's not just robots who will need super-sensitive skin. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Dr. Watson Will See You Soon
Will Watson be the right computer to crack one of the intractable problems in medicine - namely, the failure of expert systems to assist or augment doctors. (re: Gene Roddenbaerry)

Computational Photography: Image Of The Future
This remarkable idea will change the way you see photography. (re: Ridley Scott)

Audi Robot Yearns For An Upgrade
Will the social robots of the future share their anxieties and their yearning for upgrades? (re: Philip K. Dick)

The Interplanetary Internet
This idea is going to get off the ground sooner or later - Vint Cerf thinks sooner would be better. (re: Harry Gore Bishop)

Robotic Hummingbird Spy
This tiny prototype weighs just 19 grams and has its own onboard video camera. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Sysbrain Lets Satellites Think For Themselves
This 'special breed of software agents' is intended to give the satellites circling over your head a bit more autonomy. (re: George Lucas)

Anti-Laser Is A Coherent Perfect Absorber
This device, which as of now has no practical applications, can absorb laser light perfectly. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Robot Learns To Clean Whiteboard, Suck Up To Teacher
What else can you teach this robot by example? I have the feeling that cleaning whiteboards is just the beginning. (re: Anthony Boucher)

Solowheel Self-Balancing Unicycle
I'm not sure if this is the future of transportation, but you can carry it easier than a Segway. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Technovelgy Has 2,000 SF Inventions, Ideas and Technologies
That's a lot of science fiction technology, ideas and inventions. (re: Various)

Motorika Robot Therapy Helps Stroke Patients
This robotic therapy device has demonstrated efficacy in assisting stroke victims in recovering much of their lost mobility. (re: A.E. van Vogt)

Videochat Robot: DIY Telepresence Robot
Another great project from Mr. Chung, this one lets you be in two places at once for just $500. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

Inspired By Science Fiction?
Readers, I need your help! (re: Various)

Robots Are Social Media, The TED Video
Fascinating TED video talk on social robots; links also to some of these robots covered on Technovelgy, with more information and video. (re: George Lucas)

Bio-Retina Retina Prosthesis Project
This is a very promising design; the second gen device could offer 72x72 pixel vision almost immediately. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

RhinoChill IntraNasal Cooling
Cools your head down fast! Farscape fans, this one's for you. (re: Various)

Nanowire Transistors For Smallest Computers
I can see the nanomachine swarm coming now. No, wait, I can't see it. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Insectothopter Robotic Dragonfly CIA Tech From 1970s
See the video; this is pretty amazing for the 1970's. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Steppenwolf: Interstellar Rogue Planets May Support Life
'Like a lone wolf wandering the galactic steppe' rogue planets could harbor life in deep oceans. (re: George RR Martin)

Affetto Child Robot With Realistic Facial Expressions
Is this little robot cute and friendly - or uncanny? You be the judge. (re: Brian Aldiss)

Confession App For iPhone Catholic Church Approved
This app does everything but give you absolution. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Google Translate for iPhone App
Impressive app for Apple iPHone owners. (re: Hugo Gernsback)

Cougar20-H Robot Hears Your Breathing
Just hold your breath to avoid detection. (re: Frank Herbert)

Biocompatible Retinal Implants
Are organic implants better than silicon and metal electrodes? (re: Ridley Scott)

Geremin Gesture-Controlled Dashboard
Better than buttons on the steering wheel? You be the judge. (re: Douglas Adams)

HP TouchSmart 610 Reclining Touchscreen
The bridge crew from Star Trek: TOS will have no problem recognizing this kind of computer display. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Hamster Powers, Controls Strandbeest Walking Robot
This project is good practice for humanity, who may someday be able to help aliens get around in strange environments (like Earth). (re: Vernor Vinge)

'My Boss Is A Robot' Project Automates Journalism
The end of the free blogging movement is almost here; your robotic overlord is being developed at Carnegie Mellon. (re: William Gibson)

RoboEarth Lets Robots Learn From Each Other
To better serve us, we must allow robots to communicate the best practices of service with each other. (re: Frederik Pohl)

LifeBot Tablet In-Ambulance Computer
This all-in-one medical tablet computer can be used by ambulance personnel and first responders to save lives. (re: Various)

Active Stereo Nose Finds The Source
Another biomimetic robot, this one imitates dogs and crayfish to find sources of chemical clouds and plumes. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Self-Cleaning SilverSport Gym Gear Uses Nanosilver
Stinky gym gear now a thing of the past? (re: Neal Stephenson)

'The Daily' iPad App Is A Padloid
Slick, understandable user interface, lots of content and (finally) an aggressive price model makes this app worth a look. (re: John Varley)

Skin Cell Gun Video
Amazing confirmation of the value of Dr. Gerlach's technique - and Philip K. Dick's vision of the future. (re: Philip K. Dick)

True 3D Real-Time Holography
'Help me, Michael Bove. You're my only hope.' (re: )

Grow Cultured Meat In A 'Carnery'
It takes from 3 to 8 pounds of nutrient to create just one pound of meat; we can do better. (re: H. Beam Piper)

Thinnest Pocket Projector
These tiny projectors will one day be a standard item in every smartphone. (re: )

Robotic Lettuce Farm Has Green Thumb
Automated farms take most of the back-breaking work out of growing lettuce. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Driver Alcohol Detection Systems for Safety By QinetiQ (And PKD)
Unfortunately, we cannot simply recline in the back seat and let the 'auto-auto mech' drive the car. (re: Philip K. Dick)

'Medical Tricorder' Sees Viral DNA Quickly
This device could reduce the usual days-long process to wait for culture results with a specific diagnosis within minutes. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

'Air Laser' Long-Range Sensor
The stronger signal should also allow for detection of much smaller concentrations of airborne contaminants. (re: Gene Roddenbaerry)

Egypt Drops Dime, Pulls Plug On Internet
The government of Egypt made a few phone calls and poof! Its citizens have no Internet access - and we have no access into the country from outside. (re: John Brunner)

China's Megacity 'Turn The Pearl River Delta Into One'
Even larger urban zones are planned. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Cultybraggan Nuclear Bunker Perfect For Data Crypt
Perfect for 'secure, anonymous, unregulated data storage.' (re: Bruce Sterling)

Ikaros Solar Sail Craft Photo Of Venus
Impressive proof of the value of solar sail-powered vessels. (re: Cordwainer Smith)

DLR Robotic Hand-Arm Is Super-Strong, Super-Tough
Take a look at a video of this robotic hand/arm system taking a beating from well-meaning researchers at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics in Germany. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Mall Robotic Ad Won't Leave You Alone
Does this sound familiar, Belgian shoppers? 'Morris pushed wearily past the salesrobot, up the sidewalk toward the residential-block that contained his living-unit.' (re: Philip K. Dick)

Antenna Repairmen In Fact And Fiction
'I am completely operational, and all my circuits are functioning perfectly.' (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Wasp Micro-UAV Used By Texas SWAT
Tiny surveillance drones are starting to appear over US cities. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Textile Energy Storage
It's a prototype systematic fiber-based electrochemical micro-supercapacitor. (re: Murray Leinsrer)

Curvilinear Camera Combines Your Eye With Zoom
Going beyond the human eye? Someday, we will rebuild you better than you were before (re: EE 'Doc' Smith)

Kiosk Looks At You, Then Decides On Your Meal
Machines will tell you what to eat, just by looking at you. (re: Douglas Adams)

E-Camouflage - Invisible Tanks
How about an invisible jumping robot spider tank? (re: Various)

PrimeSense WAVI Xtion Gesture Control Of TV
The same company that created Microsoft's Kinect wants to do more for you in your living room. (re: Douglas Adams)

Magnetic Pills Steered Within The Body
Precise drug delivery could be achieved by controlling a special pill as it moved through the patient's gastrointestinal tract. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Evolutionary Robotics To Design Better Robots
Robots seem to walk better when they evolve the ability to do so. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Cliodynamics: Modeling Complex Societies Mathematically
'The basis of all valid psychohistory lies in the development of the Seldon Plan.' (re: Isaac Asimov)

GhostBot Robotic Ghost Knifefish
This robot is highly maneuverable, thanks to its body-long fin. (re: Michael Swanwick)

Moon Mining And Space Lawyers
Need a good space-lawyer? SF readers have been looking for one since 1941. (re: Nat Schachner)

When You're Smiling, The World's Machines Smile With You!
The machines know when you're happy, so smile! (re: Various)

EDV-01 Instant Self-Sufficient House
'There was nowhere on the planet where science and technology could not provide one with a comfortable home...' (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Robot Japan Dance Contest
Dancing robots have been seen in futuristic films before. (re: Fritz Lang)

Mammoths In Five Years?
The plan to create living mammoths using mammoth DNA is apparently back on track. (re: John Varley)

XWave Apps For iPhone See Brainwaves
Brainwave sensors for entertainment goes back at least a generation in sf. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Autonomous Construction By Teams Of Quadrotor Robots
These little robots buzz like wasps, and cooperate in the building of tower structures. (re: James P. Hogan)

Biotic Video Games Use Living Cells
'The Ganymedean life form did not experience pain and had not yet objected to being made over into a portion of an electronic system.' (re: Philip K. Dick)

Ad-Supported Free Telephone Calls
To make a free international call, just listen to a short ad or two. For now. (re: J.G. Ballard)

400 People Volunteer For Mars
Would you volunteer to colonize Mars? (re: Robert Heinlein)

Metallic Glass Stronger Than Steel
The new metallic glass is a microalloy featuring palladium. (re: Various)

Philip K. Dick Robot Head Rebuilt Video
This newly posted video seems to indicate that PKD's robotic head has been rebuilt. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Uno By BPG Motors Transformer Like RIDEBACK
Is this the first real transformer vehicle? (re: Tetsuro Kasahara)

Miami-Dade Police First To Use UAV Drones?
What US city will be the first to deploy surveillance drones developed by the military? (re: Larry Niven)

iRobot AVA Telepresence Robot With iPad
If iRobot is entering the field of tele-operated robotics, the business case must be good. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

Polaroid GL20 Video Sunglasses
Lady Gaga demonstrates this product, which she designed with Polaroid. (re: David Brin)

Realtime Holographic Motion Display Video
In the case of 3D display gaming, it is best to let the Wookie win. (re: George Lucas)

Samsung 19 Inch Transparent AMOLED Display
Will those open laptops on conference room desks be less of a barrier if their displays are transparent? (re: H.G. Wells)

US Mil Gorgon Stare Lacks Multiheaded Basilisk Capability
This device is able to look down and photograph a four square kilometer section of a city. But that's all. For now. (re: Charles Stross)

Living Earth Simulator For 'Ultimate Answers'
It's an explorational device, like the Large Hadron Collider. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Digital Radiation Spectrometer
Mr. Spock, if you could take just one tool down to a new planet, what would it be? (re: Gene Roddenberry)

iRing Lunar Flex-Wheel
Might these wheels also work on Earth? Lunar expeditions are somewhat chancy these days. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Read Google EBooks On Google TV
Isaac Asimov had a name for that. (re: Isaac Asimov)

See Jesus? There's An App For That
AppTech intends to 'offer religious themed content through the various Smartphone operating platforms.' (re: Roger Zelazny)

HRP-2 Auld Lang Syne Theremin
Happy New Year! (re: Herbert Goldstone)

PR2 Robot Wanders 100 Km Autonomously
This is PR2 - why don't they let it wander around my house, folding the laundry? (re: Gregory Benford)

ETH Quadcopters Perform Jingle Bells On Real Piano
They can do more than just watch you; they can entertain you over the holidays. (re: Herbert Goldstone)

Nao Robot Video Demonstrates Improvements
Just in time for the holidays, the Nao robot has improved specifications and histrionics. (re: Various)

Romeo Robot A Robant For Elder Care
Grasping the firm arm of my trusted robot Romeo, I totter into a brave new future. (re: Philip K. Dick)

China's Spherical Walking Robot With Retractable Arms
Updated! Favorite design of supervillains patented! Diagrams show this walking spherical robot with retractable arms. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Fracking Earthquakes
Oil companies pump a dense slurry into the rocks far under a town, hoping to create fractures to release natural gas. What could go wrong? (re: Various)

MGX 3D Printed Goods Almost Has it
They almost have that Gibsonian business model figured out. (re: William Gibson)

NASA Rail Launch In Supermarionation
Where should we look to find new ideas on how to get spacecraft into orbit? I'll give you three guesses. (re: Gerry Anderson)

Earthworms Absorb Copper Nanomaterials From Soil
Update! on copper nanoparticle toxicity study. Engineered nanomaterials can be taken up from the environment and moved up the food chain. (re: Larry Niven)

Robot Pianist Is Self-Correcting
This little robot is just starting out, but it can listen and learn from its own mistakes. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Invisibility Cloak Fools Naked Eye
interesting new technique uses naturally-occurring materials to form an invisibility cloak. (re: EE 'Doc' Smith)

Wet Kissing Cell Phone Prototype
Skip all that texting and smiley faces nonsense; these cell phone prototypes deliver the emotional goods. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Medical Researcher 'Discovers' Integration
Updated! Do we need a specific type of scientist or researcher that specializes in knowing the specifics of many different fields of knowledge? (re: A.E. van Vogt)

Binishells Graceful Housing
This may just be the quickest way to construct a permanent shelter. (re: Larry Niven)

Snakebot Conquers Obstacle Course
Snake robots are becoming surprisingly versatile in their movements. (re: Greg Bear)

New ESAIL Video: Deploy Tethers!
'A magsail can get you to Mars in about the same time it took the Mayflower to cross the Atlantic.' (re: Michael Flynn)

Autonomous Adaptive Structure Uses Shape Memory Polymer
Part of an autonomous adaptive structure created at MIT. (re: J.G. Ballard)

DoDAMM Autonomous Robot Sentry Gun
This gun targets and fires automatically. (re: Michael Crichton)

Stretchable Silicon Electronics For Sports Apparel
Maybe Reebok could include a stopwatch along with the sensors; that's what Niven and Barnes fans are hoping. (re: Niven and Barnes)

Robot Waiters And Receptionists In China Restaurant
Robotic waiters get better and better, take a look at this restaurant in China. (re: George Lucas)

Sonic Screwdrivers Using Ultrasonic Force Fields
Ultrasonic force fields can apply real forces to tiny objects. (re: Various)

Will Lucas Resurrect Dead Actors Digitally?
Is George Lucas obsessed with bringing dead celebrities back to life? He'd need at least one sfna-only technology to do it. (re: Various)

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