Permanent Mechanical Heart A First For Children
Philip K. Dick talked about artificial mechanical organs almost sixty years ago. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
MobilePay USA Credit Card App For Smartphones
Frederik Pohl called this one in 1965 - just one of the characteristics of his prescient joymaker concept. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
DEMON UAV Has No Moving Flaps
Successful demonstration of 'flapless flight' in this unmanned aerial vehicle. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Habitable Planet Gliese 581g Is A 'Ribbon World'
Asimov described planets like this one as 'ribbon worlds' and extolled the virtues of their unusual microclimates. (re: Isaac Asimov) |
XOS 2 Raytheon Gen 2 Exoskeleton For Ironman 2
Iron Man, your new suit awaits! (re: Fritz Leiber) |
Festo Bionic Handling Assistant Video
Terrific video presents Festo's robotics work, as described by the engineers who created it. (re: H.G. Wells) |
Suspended Animation For Surgery Patients
Chill out - you'll live longer. (re: Edward Page Mitchell) |
iCub Robot ARCHER Gets Weapons Training
This little iCub humanoid robot learned to shoot a bow and arrow by itself. Just a bow and arrow. For now. (re: Various) |
Panasonic Robotic Care Assistance With Wheelchair
Robotic aids for your old age are on the way, America. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo) |
First Artificial Human Ovary
The Social Predestination Room is down two doors, on the left. (re: Aldous Huxley) |
Deleting Gene Makes Mice Smarter
'I dint know mice were so smart.' Charley Gordon, in Flowers For Algernon. (re: Daniel Keyes) |
Brain Coprocessor Platform Needed
Do we need a Brain Implant Operating System? (re: William Gibson) |
Assault Intervention Device - A Pain Ray Gun
Should this device be used in the United States? (re: Ray Cummings) |
PIRO Window Washing Robot
Nicely implemented window washing robot perfect for those vertical surfaces. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
VW Talking Newspaper Ad
The newspapers have finally started talking back. (re: Greg Bear) |
Brother AirScouter Retinal Imaging Display Video
Remarkable technology presaged sixty years earlier in The Space Merchants, by Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth. (re: Pohl/Kornbluth) |
Memory-Erasing Drugs
Do you have memories that you would rather not be able to access? This researcher has a possible technique. (re: Jack Vance) |
'Air Hopper' Robot Grasshopper
This robot has some leaping ability, for use on uneven terrain. (re: Bruce Sterling) |
Prototype Lunar Greenhouse
Interesting concept from the University of Arizona; Robert Heinlein went a bit further in his thinking, particularly from the standpoint of recycling. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Core Bipedal Robotic Vehicle
With a bit more quickness, you'll be thinking that the AT-ST walkers from Star Wars were coming to life. (re: George Lucas) |
HRP-4 Robot Is Lean, Athletic
HRP-4 dispels your mental image of robots as slow and ponderous. (re: Various) |
Kiss ME Device For Kiss Communication
A novel hi-fidelity physical interface for transferring a remote and mediated kiss in real-time. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
Fabrican Spray-On T-Shirt Video
This video recently turned up; Stanislaw Lem nailed this idea almost fifty years ago. (re: Stanislaw Lem) |
Rail-Launched Scramjets To Space
NASA looks forward to cutting edge retrofuture strategies for space launches. (re: Wylie and Balmer) |
2011 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge Announced
Here's your open challenge, world readers. The focus is on artificial intelligence. (re: Various) |
Robots Learn To Understand Outdoor Scenes
Robots like Philip K. Dick's leadies need this kind of capability, if they are to serve on the surface of the wide Earth. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Robot Skin Detects Your Gentle Caress
You want your robot to be this sensitive; don't miss the extra links to learn about robot skin as soft as yours. (re: Roger Zelazny) |
Remote Control Of Brain Activity
How can we ensure the alertness of Warfighters? Reduce stress, enhance cognition and reduce experienced pain? (re: Vernor Vinge) |
iPad For Radiologists?
Does the iPad really have what it takes to be a science fiction medical tablet computer? A radiologist takes a look. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Hubble Shows 'smoke wound in a tight spiral coil'
Larry Niven gave us a view decades before this Hubble photo. Thanks, Larry. (re: Larry Niven) |
FrontlineSMS Legal Justice Via Cell Phone
These remote lawyer programs are just the start - wait until they come up with a 'virtual counsel'. (re: David Brin) |
Swiss Thought-Controlled Wheelchair
More research on brain-controlled assistive devices; success for the Swiss. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Tractor Beam Works Over Longer Distances
Still a prototype, and it only works in an atmosphere. But still, we're making progress. (re: E.E. 'Doc' Smith) |
Brian Robot Reads Your Emotions, Then Creeps You Out
'I can tell from your voice harmonics, Dave, that you're badly upset.' (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Life-sized Duplicate Of Deceased Girlfriend Manufactured
A grieving businessman purchases a companion manufactured to order. (re: Alice W. Fuller) |
Laser-Powered Helicopter
Held aloft on a beam of light. (re: Niven and Pournelle) |
First Cashless Society - In Somaliland?
Leave your wheelbarrow of cash at home. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
Inflatable Lofts For NASA 'Campers' On Moon And Mars
I love it when I already have a good idea what NASA is looking for in a contest because I read about it decades ago in sf. (re: Larry Niven) |
Artificial Kidney Prototype To Be Implantable
Artificial organs have been a science fiction staple for a long time; perhaps we'll see implantable mechanical organs soon. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Self-Healing Concrete Uses Bacteria For Healing
Is it possible that bacteria in buildings could play the role of your body's osteoblast cells - repairing their minor fractures? (re: J.G. Ballard) |
Exmobaby Biosensor Pajamas For Baby
Hush little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna ... be watching you on her cell phone. (re: David H. Keller) |
Apple Live Streaming Fail
In which Apple makes a promise and then fails to deliver. (re: Edmond Hamilton) |
Re Google: William Gibson, Read More SF
It turns out that sf writers have imagined Google and Google's future plans rather precisely. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
Nike's Air Kicks Back To The Future Power Laces
Marty McFly, your shoes are almost ready. (re: ) |
EggTorte Mini Micromouse
I really like the speed of this little learning robot. (re: Maurice A. Hugi) |
Yale Aerial Manipulator Flying Robotic Hand
Just think of all the possible uses of a flying robotic hand. (re: Robert L. Forward) |
M-Dress Has Phone, SIM Card And Antenna Embedded
This dress is a wearable phone. (re: Murray Leinster) |
RG3 Robotic Greens Mower Is Sensor-Equipped
This sensor-equipped mower is nimble enough to avoid gophers on golf courses. (re: Clifford Simak) |
Touch Sensor For Sensitive Robots
Honestly, who doesn't want a more sensitive robot? (re: Roger Zelazny) |
Labor-Saving Centrifuge
'I made sure my left foot was positioned for the gravistat control and watched her belly.' (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Aimec Child Robot Built By Childless Couple
This childless couple built themselves a robotic son. (re: Brian Aldiss) |
Murdoch To Create Digital News-Paper
In which Rupert Murdoch demonstrates his mastery of future technology. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Yurina Care Robot Cure For Nurses' Strained Backs
If you can promise nurses 'no more strained backs' you'll get a sale. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo) |
Robotic Wheelchair Autonomously Follows Walking Companion
This prototype device could make life easier for people who must use wheelchairs to get around. (re: John Brunner) |
Ignition Interlock Required For NY Drunk Drivers
'It had been a bad night, and when he tried to drive home he had a terrible argument with his car.' (re: Philip K. Dick) |
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. (re: Jack Vance) |
Google's 'Omega Man' Street View Solution
The Last Man on Earth is Not Alone. (re: ) |
Vivos Shelter Network Survivalist Luxury
'A family would be safe, even comfortable, during the most severe H-bomb and bacterial-spray attack.' (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Neurochip A Living Brain On A Silicon Chip
'The Ganymedean life form ... had not yet objected to being made over into a portion of an electronic system.'- Philip K. Dick (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Vine Pruning Robots In New Zealand
'Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thy robot shalt prune thy vineyard.' (Note) (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Smart Ball Android Spherical Robot
Use your Android phone to control this bot. Article includes a spherical robot video roundup! (re: Various) |
Tiered Internet: Google/Verizon Deal/No Deal
Is net neutrality over? (re: John Brunner) |
Gamers Outperform Algorithms At Competitive Protein Folding
Which would you rather tell people? I played Starcraft all night, or I helped design a new vaccine last night? (re: Various) |
Make Money With Artificial Intelligence
'I've learned not to question the AI.' Advice to take to the bank - or famous last words? (re: Larry Niven) |
'Intuitive Navigation' Augmented Reality For Smartphones
Find your way around the natural, intuitive way. With your smartphone. (re: Various) |
Improve MAVs By Studying Bees In Flight
Nature has solved the problem of flight by tiny machines; let's see how She did it. (re: Neal Stephenson) |
Telenoid R1 Uncanny Telepresence Robotics
Is this the kind of presence that you want to project teletronically? (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Robotic Tentacle Manipulator
HG Wells described snake-like tentacle manipulators in his 1898 classic War of the Worlds. And what does this device look like if you turn it upside down? (re: H.G. Wells) |
Robot Surgeons To Be Fully Autonomous
'Facing him from behind the desk was the surgeon The nameplate on the desk included a fully identifying series of letters and numbers... To call him Doctor would be quite enough.' (re: Isaac Asimov) |
Did Arthur C. Clarke Predict GPS?
'But as for details of frequencies and powers, I'll have to leave that to the experts to work out; I'll get on with my science fiction and wait to say -I told you so!' (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Telepresence Robot Roundup With Anybot
The field of telepresence robotics is starting to heat up; take a look at this roundup to see the variety of functions performed. (re: Niven and Pournelle) |
Biofuel From Algae
Can we improve the ability of algae to produce material we need? Should we? (re: Hal Clement) |
Ice Formation At Room Temperature Is Possible With New Material
This technology will have a number of practical implications. Busy, busy, busy, says Bokonon. (re: Kurt Vonnegut) |
Pancake-Flipping Robot Learns By Example
Can you flip a pancake? This robot learned how in only fifty tries. (re: Anthony Boucher) |
MIT's Cornucopia Digital Robotic Food Concept
Digital food the modern way. In concept, at least. (re: John W. Campbell) |
Making Drone Aircraft Smarter
If you want smarter planes, why not just give them the brains of a pilot? (re: Peter Watts) |
'Invisibles' Provides Tactile Feedback For VR
This is just the kind of prototype system that could give you you virtual reality world. (re: David Brin) |
Ecobot III Robot Seeks Out Organic Food
Little Ecobot has continued to evolve, navigating to it's nutrient sources. (re: Various) |
Amazon Sells More Ebooks Than Hardcovers
'I spent the afternoon in a bookstore. There were no books in it.' (re: Stanislaw Lem) |
AQUA2 Underwater Robot With Flippers
Flipper-powered autonomous underwater vehicle. (re: Michael Swanwick) |
ChouChou Butterfly Robot
Highly realistic mechanical insect. (re: Harlan Ellison) |
Pharmed Blood Is DARPA's Tru Blood
Artificially produced blood for transfusions is on its way. (re: Various) |
Ikaros Solar Sail Works!
The first push from sunlight has been felt by Japan's Ikaros spacecraft. (re: Jack Vance) |
Terahertz Remote Sensing Detectors
See through walls, containers and clothes from hundreds of feet away - and identify the unique signature of different substances. (re: E.E. 'Doc' Smith) |
Computational Journalism The Homeostatic Newspaper
Philip K. Dick has already plumbed the depths of what computers can do for us in creating (and peddling) the news. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Solar Impulse Completes Night Flight
Recharge by day, fly by night. Solar Impulse completes a 26-hour journey. (re: John W. Campbell) |
FURO Waitress Robot
It's the latest tech from Dex's Diner in Star Wars! Well, almost. (re: George Lucas) |
Canon Wonder Camera Concept
Why do big companies insist on intruding on the domain of sf writers? Philip K. Dick has this concept beat, hands down. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
NTT Real-Time Voice Transcriber
Note-taking in long boring meetings will be a thing of the past, thanks to NTT. (re: David H. Keller) |
Lung On A Chip - Electronics Plus Human Cells
This device combines living human cells with electronics; can Philip K. Dick's swibble-culture be far behind? (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Unlimited Urban Woods - A Forest In A Box
What's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside? Maybe this box. (re: Various) |
Robots Everywhere From Cell Phone Electronics
Maybe phones don't need the fictional All Spark to perform amazing feats. (re: Various) |
Power Laces From Back To The Future 2
Marty McFly, your auto-lacing shoes are almost ready. With video. (re: Various) |
Waterfall Display Technology
Will this nifty multi-layered droplet display replace your flat panel TV? It has to be more refreshing on hot July days. (re: Various) |
Real-Life Minority Report Interface Presentation Video
Amazing implementation of the display from the Spielberg movie; not surprisingly, he also helped on the creation of the movie. (re: Steven Spielberg) |
Could Blimps Replace Planes For Cargo?
SF writers haven't given up on dirigibles, neither should we. (re: Jerry Pournelle) |
KrioRus Brain Freeze Technology
Frozen head buffs take heart from Russian firms ready to save them. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
Tempwave: Raytheon Plowshares Energy Weapon
'They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.' And their energy weapons into grape-warmers? (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Self-Folding 'Origami Robot' Smart Sheet
Updated! What science-fictional devices could you make with this real-life technology? (re: William Gibson) |
Perching Flying Robot
This robot can perch until needed, saving energy for the mission. Which is to help people. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Fortune-Telling Robotic Vending Machine
Now updated ! 'He who reads many Technovelgy articles will have a happy life.' (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Italian Scientists Who Failed To Predict Quake Indicted For Manslaughter
Is quake prediction still in the realm of science fiction? Italian prosecutors don't think so, apparently. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Unilever Smile-Based Ice Cream Vending Machine
Smile! You're about to get some ice cream from this face-recognition, proximity detecting, smile-measuring vending machine. (re: Douglas Adams) |
'Sandfish' Robot Moves Through Sand
Take a look at this video of a biomimetic sand-burrowing robot. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Large Flexible Plastic Sheet Displays
'Ginormous displays' are on the way from Hewlett Packard. (re: E.C. Tubb) |
Google Seeks Pohl's Joymaker Voice Recognition
In which Google's Vic Gundotra describes the pursuit of the perfect smartphone - which is starting to sound a lot like Frederik Pohl's joymaker. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
EPI Life First ECG Mobile Phone
The world's first cell phone with a built-in ECG monitor. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Hyperion Robot Walking Chair
I seem to recall a similar robotic walking chair in a Star Wars movie. (re: George Lucas) |
Paro Robot Seal Helps Grandma
Robotic baby harp seals are slowly wiggling their way into American nursing homes. A good idea? Or a phildickian idea? (re: Anne McCaffrey) |
Stem Cells From Fat May Heal Bones
A special gel made from a soldier's own stem cells may be able to effect better healing of broken bones. (re: Clifford Simak) |
EMIEW2 Roller Skating Robot
And why shouldn't a robot be able to rollerskate? At up to 3.7 miles per hour. (re: Various) |
Charlie Health Care Robot For Kiwis
Health care robots are starting to appear all over the world. Now, New Zealand. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo) |
Taekwondo Robot Fighting In South Korea
Robots square off in martial arts action! Sounds good to me. (re: Various) |
Suspended Animation Works in Lab (With Nematodes)
Cold sleep is a science fiction standard; can metabolic processed be halted for even a short period? (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Belvedere The Robot Butler
Great video of a DIY butler robot; watching the little boy react to it will make your day. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
Handheld Fashion Kinetoscope Appliance Found
I think Wells got this one pretty much right more than one hundred years ago. Except now, you can own one yourself. (re: H.G. Wells) |
LuminAR Bulb And Robot Lamp Frees Trapped Pixels
Remarkable prototype camera/projector fits in a bulb's outlet and sets your information free, putting it on any surface you want. (re: Various) |
'Retina Display' SFnally Perfect (Almost)
Just how good is Apple's retina display Does it meet the needs of science fiction writers? (re: Ray Bradbury) |
Scarab Robotic Chase Vehicle Concept
An all-electric chase vehicle for use by police. Sounds like a science-fictional concept to me. (re: Daniel Suarez) |
eyeSight Gesture Control Of Android Phones
A wave of your hand controls your phone - and it can be used for gaming, too. (re: Samuel R. Delany) |
PLEASE Painless Laser Epidural System Like Trek Hypospray
And Variable laser deflection allows flexible formation of pore arrays. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Aggressive Autonomous Quadrotor UAV Makes Its Moves
Robots are getting quicker, even the autonomous flying kind. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Could Robot Fish Lead Gulf Fish To Safety?
This little robofish has all of the characteristics of a leader - and can really lead schools of fish to safety! (re: Michael Swanwick) |
Internet Addiction Growing?
You can log off anytime you want to - right? (re: Dan Simmons) |
Your Telemedicine Future
Vashti, your telemedicine apparatus is almost ready, thanks to physicians and Internet technicians. (re: E.M. Forster) |
Nanoparticle Tattoo Monitors Blood Glucose
An 'ink' of nanoparticles suspended under the skin could save millions of people the pain of daily needle pricks, and improve monitoring. (re: Paul Di Filippo) |
SmartIris IDs People In Crowds
Surveillance of public spaces just got easier, thanks to this DARPA program. (re: Stephen Spielberg) |
Japan's Humanoid Robot Moonbase Plan
Now settlers on the moon will have robotic neighbors - a famnextdo. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
SmartCap Detects Fatigue
Although I think it needs a buzzer for home use, this device could save lives. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
SCRAM Anklet For Lindsay Lohan
This ankle bracelet uses transdermal alcohol monitoring to keep track of miscreants. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Robotic Butterflies For Parks Near You?
Among the synthetic trees, unliving turf and flower-holograms in the parks of the future, we will have robotic butterflies. (re: Roger Zelazny) |
First Person Infected With Computer Virus
It's not quite the Snow Crash Metavirus. But they're working on it. (re: Gregory Benford) |
Artificial Heart Recipient Goes Home With Freedom Driver
Take heart, Tin Man. No, really; it's a mechanical heart that is fully portable, thanks to its new power source. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
bebionic Myo-Electric Hand Launched
Can I see a show of hands? Robotic hands? Here's a video to help you make your own show. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
And DARPA Shall SMITE The Wicked
Predicting future crime is always a bit tricky - especially when you plan to do it without the usual three precogs. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Little Dog Robot's Uncanny Walk
Everybody's talkin' 'bout a new way of walkin' - do you want to lose your mind? (re: Various) |
Google Adjustable Television
Google wants you to have the greatest possible freedom of choice in selecting programming. Philip K. Dick also wanted you to have freedom of choice _within_ programming. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Google Android Language Rectifier
Hugo Gernsback wrote about it a century ago; now a major phone platform offers it for free. And it works! (re: Hugo Gernsback) |
PoBot Has Your Back - For 25 Cents
PoBot is happy to perform its nominal functions for you. For a small fee, of course. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
SASI Sarcasm Recognition A Really Useful Invention
Better watch what you say around automated voice recognition systems the next time you call customer service. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Voyager 2 Hijacked By Aliens
The aliens probably got the idea for this from Star Trek. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
I-Fairy Robot Minister Performs Wedding Ceremony
This is not, as claimed, the first wedding ceremony performed by a robot. However, the wedding video might make roboticists cry. (re: Robert Silverberg) |
Micromasonry 'Biological Legos' Building New Organs
New technique for putting 3-dimensional structure in artificial organs. (re: Larry Niven) |
Autofac - Real-Life Nanoscale Assembly Line
Remarkable experiment demonstrates that a nanoscale assembly line can actually work. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
DreamROBO Climbing Robots
Climbing the walls like dedicated salarymen. (re: Michael Crichton) |
3D Printing In Ceramics - The Vitraglyphic Process
A new way to fabricate glass and ceramic objects. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Invisible Dress: Your Fashion Future
Essential couture for the technologically fashion-minded. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Autom, Your Robotic Weight-Loss Coach
Sticking to your diet and exercise plan may depend on health-conscious robots. (re: Clamp) |
Robots, Knives and Soft-Tissue Injury
I certainly hope that robots can learn to be careful with knives, especially when human beings are nearby. Oh, and no running with scissors. (re: Various) |
XM-25 'Judge Dredd' Rifle For Special Forces
According to reports, the Lawgiver may soon be seen in action in Afghanistan. Or a near real-life equivalent. (re: Various) |
