Computer, Heal Thyself - With ClearView
When you can read about an idea fifty years before it's implemented (and in an entertaining story to boot), that's good value. (re: James Blish)

Love Plus Dating Sim Requires Kissing
Dating in the virtual world of Love Plus; would you have a relationship with a virtual person? (re: William Gibson)

iPhone App To Drive Your Car
Watch movie then and German engineering now videos of this iPhone app that lets you drive your car by remote control. (re: Various)

AIDA Affective Intelligent Driving Agent
This cute little 'dashboard droid' should be familiar to sf movie fans everywhere. (re: George Lucas)

Commercial Flies Sport Tiny Banner Ads
Phil Dick must be rolling over in his grave; buzzing advertisements are something I could live without. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Muscle-Controlled Interface Is Hands-Free
Research could lead to completely hands-free gaming interfaces. (re: Ian Banks)

Transparent OLED Display Gets Bigger
H.G. Wells knew futuristic cool stuff when he thought of it - and now, you can look at a real-life prototype. (re: H.G. Wells)

Death Algorithm Developed In Japan
Interesting work raises moral questions; I wonder if this algorithm will me made available in a simple home test. (re: William Nolan w/GC Johnson)

ROPID Has Serious 'Quick', Good Hang Time
Quick little robot has good leaping ability and plenty of attitude. (re: Harry Harrison)

Facebook Online Memorial Service
Anthropologists often point to ceremonies surrounding the treatment of the dead as evidence of civilization. What does this current news story say about us? (re: Gene Roddenberry)

LongBox Plus Apple Tablet Equals Digital Comic Books?
Philip K. Dick helps you imagine the possibilities of a battery-powered comic book in a story from the mid-Sixties. Thanks, Phil. (re: Philip K. Dick)

PETMAN Robot Video Shows Non-Human Origin
Oh, it's bipedal, alright, but those legs are not quite human. In fact, I think that it walks just like the aliens in that 1996 movie 'The Arrival' (re: Frederik Pohl)

'Tofu' Chair Inspired By Plant Cells
Reveal the plant cell-inspired chair within the carved block of 'tofu. This design won the red dot design award in Singapore this year. (re: Jack Vance)

Autonomous Valet Parking By Volkswagen
Imagine leaving your car at the curb of the restaurant, pushing the 'park' button and just walking in for dinner. Watch the video. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Is This A 'Skylight' Leading To A Lunar Cave?
Could this deep hole be an entrance to a lunar cave or lava tube? If so, it could point the way to a perfect location for permanent habitation on the Moon. (re: Robert Heinlein)

EVestG Basis For Star Trek 'Psychotricorder'
Depression is just one mental illness that can take years to properly diagnose; surely a machine that could diagnose it immediately is science-fictional. With video. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Regolith Excavation Challenge Yields Prize Money
Updated! Someone finally took some NASA prize money home in this remote lunar digging competition. (re: Pournelle and Niven)

'Niiu' Custom Newspaper Is PKD's Homeopape
You say 'niiu' but I say 'pape - homeostatic newspaper, that is. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Sony 360 3D 'Stereo Tank' Video
A video of the Sony prototype 360 degree viewable 3D display has finally made it onto youtube. (re: Robert Heinlein)

SmartHand Helps Amputees Regain Sensation
An important advance in creating artificial hands that restore sensation to amputees. (re: Martin Caidin)

Human Brains For Robots?
In science fiction, it's usually space aliens who decide to use human brains to run things. However, in the real present it's the humans who are working on it. (re: Keith Laumer)

Crystals In Gel For Computer Memory
Ah, nothing like curling up at night with a good crystal. A data storage crystal containing tens of thousands of volumes, that is. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Microwave Tissue Soldering For Traumatic Wounds
Solder living tissue as a way to deal with traumatic wounds? What is that, some kind of Star Trek episode subplot? No, it's being developed for the space program. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

ViconRevue Records Every Minute of Your Life
The SenseCam will be produced commercially by a UK company (re: Roger Zelazny)

Zprinter 350 Full-Color 3D Printer
Nothing like getting a full-color object right out of the printer - or the nanofax, for William Gibson fans. (re: William Gibson)

Dish Washing Robot Arm
Watch this video of a one-armed dish bandit! Only a prototype, but I still think that Heinlein was on to something when he wondered about dishwashing robots. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Gyrosphere Robot Climbs Out Of Holes
Nothing like spherical robots; I'm guessing that the Rovers will make a big comeback on the remake of The Prisoner this fall. (re: Various)

Europa May Support Life
Is there life on Europa? SF author Arthur C. Clarke popularized the idea in a book and a subsequent movie. There is a liquid ocean - but is there enough oxygen? (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

EmoBracelet Warns Traders Of Bad Decisions
Should you be making decisions right now, given your emotional state? Philips, the electronics corporation, now has some real-life tech for you. (re: Various)

iRobot's ChemBot Blob: JSEL Takes Baby Steps
iRobot's version of the Chembot project is not the only effort to move away from clanky, rigid robots. See the blob video, remember the sci-fi B-movies of yesteryear. (re: )

Silicon Sunshine - Data Transparency In Government
Should the government be forced to put every last bit of information it has online, every minute of every day? Lawrence Lessig has comments, and so does John Brunner. (re: John Brunner)

First Bank Of Antimatter Issues Anti-Money
Interested in trading currency? Have you thought about antimatter depository notes? (re: Various)

Spider Pill: Wireless Endoscopic Capsule Robot
Updated with 1962 Jetson's reference. This tiny, free-roaming robot is scheduled for a trip through your intestines sooner than you think. Especially if you are over 50. (With video and CAD diagram.) (re: Various)

Snackbot, Robotic Bringer Of Snacks
Should roboticists be forced to walk long distances for snacks, or should they have snacks brought to them by autonomous robots, thus letting them spend more time creating cool robots? This question answers itself. (re: Robert Heinlein)

SkyTran's Sky Pod MagLev Taxis
Speaking as someone who spent about 6,000 hours commuting to work in a car and steering it down the same road over and over, I'd rather just ride, thanks. When do I get my Sky Pods? (re: Larry Niven)

Hull Cockpit For Haptic Control Of Halluc II Robot
What's even better than a cool robot? A haptic controller in a futuristic cockpit, that's what. (re: Various)

WaterCar Python Not Your Father's Amphicar
This is not a slow boat and it's not a slow car, either. I'd like to try driving one of these. With video. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Yes, Internet Eyes Is A 'Snooper's Paradise'
New UK (where else?) website will let you, the anonymous snitcher, surveil your fellow citizens in the comfort of your own home. (re: Ray Bradbury)

In-Road Electric Vehicle Charger
Intriguing patent surfaces (with video) for an in-road electric vehicle charging system; you can move on or off the charging strip at will. (re: Hugo Gernsback)

Date Rape Prevention Lip Gloss Kit
Women should take their 2 Love My Lips lip gloss when clubbing, because you never know when someone will try chaumurky. (re: Frank Herbert)

Jail Sells Visitation Monitor Ad Space
Should jails force you to watch advertisements in return for speaking to your jailed relative or friend? Well, they're already doing it in Florida. (re: Various)

Eigenharp Favored By Mos Eisley Musicians
Too good to be kept in a galaxy far, far away, the Eigenharp lets you perform complex synthesized music onstage without cumbersome keyboards. (re: George Lucas)

ag4's Bayer 'Media Facade' Like Blade Runner
Striking video of an entire building facade turned into an advertising space. Although not yet running ads describing your new life in an off-world colony, it's very science-fictional. (re: Ridley Scott)

Robobees To Swarm At Harvard
Ten million dollars from the NSF for wild-eyed science fiction from the 1930's? You betcha. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Thermeleon Roof Tiles Change Color To Save Energy
Very clever project could greatly save on heating and cooling costs. I also like the name chosen for the team that developed the material. (re: Frank Herbert)

Unlimited Size Mitsubishi OLED TV Screen
Now, you can take the incremental approach to the fine old American game of 'my big screen TV is bigger than yours'. (re: Various)

The Periodic Table Of Science Fiction Now Online
Very short stories that are somehow centered around an element are now available online from sf author Michael Swanwick. (re: Michael Swanwick)

Liquid Semiconductor Nuclear Battery Big As A Penny
You might have trouble believing that a nuclear battery could be no larger than a dime, even if you didn't study under the great Bler at the University of Trantor. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Security Patrol Robot With ATV Base
This all-terrain robotic security guard was created by students for autonomous premise surveillance. (re: Philip K. Dick)

iLickit App Reveals iPhone Tongue Interface
Absurd iPhone app may lead to a more useful healthcare application. (re: Alfred Bester)

Robot Cosplay! HRP-4C Robot As Hatsune Miku At CEATEC 2009
Full-on robotic cosplay at CEATEC; a well-known female robot plays computer-generated anime singer Hatsune Miku. (re: )

Funktionide Blob: A Video Love Story
In spite of the best efforts of the electroactive polymer blob's creator, the idea of a robotic blob that crawls into bed with me does not relax me. With video. (re: Various)

Obrero Robot Has The Soft Touch
It would be a pleasure to shake hands with this robot, which uses sensitive manipulation to gauge just the right gripping force. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Navy Command Center Of The Future
What should a futuristic command center look like? (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Online Banking Malware Rewrites Your Statements
This is a very sneaky trojan program - it sits in your PC and rewrites bank statements on-the-fly, as you're looking at them. (re: Various)

Emily Howell - The Computer Is The Composer
Updated with new reference! Keep an eye out for the new CD by an artificially intelligent composer named Emily Howell. (re: William Gibson)

Instant Housing
Haven't you ever found a spot with a view so great, you'd just like to plunk a house down right there, and enjoy it right now? Now you can. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Phantom City Alternate NYC
This art museum project uses an iPhone app to take its exhibit of alternate New York city projects all over the city. (re: Various)

Nanobees Sting Tumors With Melittin
Unique use of nanoparticles to deliver melittin, a component of bee venom, directly to cancer cells. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Digi-Novel Book-Movie-Website
Let's try all of our media in every combination we can think of. This is one try. (re: Various)

Surviving In Zombieland
Do physicists hold the key to surviving zombie attacks? Probably not, but I'd take any excuse to learn more about random walks. (re: Various)

See Through Walls With Wireless Networks
This technology for surveillance actually uses WiFi networks to figure out how many people are in a room and where they are. (re: Nat Schachner)

Be Martin Jetpack Test Pilot Via eBay
Of course you do. Now, you have your chance at free flight with a jetpack. (re: John W. Campbell)

ActiveLink Makes Power Loader From Aliens
Attention would-be Ripleys - your power loader exoskeleton is now in development. (re: Various)

Marvin Intel's Self-Charging Robot
This robot seeks power - from standard AC outlets. I can think of a fifty-year-old reference for that idea. Can you think of an older one? (re: Stephen Barr)

Courier Tablet Computer Video Reveals Features
This short video shows off the capabilities of Microsoft's Courier tablet prototype. Do you see features here that are worth having? (re: Neal Stephenson)

RAPHaEL 2 Robotic Hand
Luke Skywalker, your new hand is almost ready. Now, with force feedback controls and more durable fingers. (re: George Lucas)

'Mechanical Tumor' Meatspace Expression Of Computer Stress
Would you really want to visualize your computer's level of activity in terms you can really, I mean viscerally, understand? (re: Philip K. Dick)

RAPUD Robotic Arm Helps Disabled Reach
Robert Heinlein also thought about robotics for the disabled; we're catching up. (re: Robert Heinlein)

'Minority Report' Castrol Ads On Britain's Digital Billboards
John Anderton! We see your car now, too. Britain's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency sells their database as well as their car monitoring network to advertisers. (re: Stephen Spielberg)

Doctorow's SchoolBook Computers Created By Australian Govt
Waving a red flag in front of the world's hackers, the New South Wales schools will be handing out 'unhackable' computers to high school students. (re: Cory Doctorow)

Solar-Powered Aircraft In Fact and Fiction
Solar aircraft have certain advantages; that's why they're attractive in fact and in fiction. (re: John W. Campbell)

Thermal Laser Weapon Evolves From PHaSR
It's a long road to the phaser, but 'set it on stun' is getting closer to reality. (re: Various)

Red Sydney
Photos of the red planet - taken here on Earth. The Marsaforming of Oz. (re: Various)

MIT Retinal Implant
Some degree of relief may be in store for people who suffer from retinitis pigmentosa or age-related macular degeneration. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Panasonic Roboticbed Transformer
There should probably be some sort of law that keeps otherwise healthy people from getting one of these. Too tempting on the weekends. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

Remote-Controlled Cyborg Beetle Video
Video of radio-controlled cyborg beetle shows that this technology is starting to work. Also, nice quote from new John Twelve Hawks book shows how these cyborgs will be used in the near future. (re: Thomas A. Easton)

First Thought-Controlled Combat Robot
Science and science fiction are neck and neck, as the first thought-controlled fighting robot premieres at the same time as a movie with thought-controlled robotic soldiers. (re: Various)

iRex DR800SG E-Reader Has Unlimited 3G Data
Unlimited 3G data from Verizon make this an interesting entry. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Robots Need Realistic Skin!
Do you feel put off by the cold, impersonal touch of your robot? Help is on the way. (re: Various)

Honda U3-X Self-Balancing Unicycle Video
With video. What's that you're saying? Another attempt to bring Heinlein's tumblebug to life? That's right. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Could Black Holes Consume Stars From Within?
Is this idea a 'radical new theory'? Or is it an idea long familiar to science fiction readers? (re: Robert L. Forward)

Marubot Robot Football League
Okay, so the robot football players are not very big. Full-size robot football players must surely follow. (re: Various)

Man Beds And SF Sleep Lairs
It's a niche market, but you can get a bed right out of science fiction. I'm talking to you, man. (re: Various)

Raptorex 'Tiny-Rex' Evokes Lizard Man Fantasies
Have you ever lamented the fact that dinosaurs, while interesting and varied, were mostly too large to seriously fit into the cockpits of fighter planes and star ships? No longer. (re: Various)

SIL06 Robot Land Mine Detector
This hexapod robot uses an alternating tripod-style gait and a sensor head to locate dangerous land mines. (re: Michael Crichton)

Courier Tablet Computer - Microsoft's Prototype
Interesting two-page tablet computer prototype from Microsoft is very similar to a Toshiba prototype from almost five years ago. Does it make you think of a runcible? (re: Neal Stephenson)

Human Cities Are Similar To The Human Neocortex
Interesting study correlates the structure of cities and the highways that serve them with the neocortex and its structures. (re: Robert Silverberg)

Mendeley Research Tool Like iTunes Genius
If this site can bring interactive social networking and iTunes-style genius recommendations to the scientific community, it could be the biggest thing since the Royal Academy was founded. (re: Various)

Jedi Persecution In Wales: General Order 66 Or 'Sith Happens'?
Jedi religion founder Morda Hehol accuses Tesco of persecution; the retail empire srikes back. (re: George Lucas)

Hajime 33 Robot Kicks, Walks
I'm very impressed by the height of this robot; this remote-controlled player is taller than you are. (re: Various)

Secret GPS Tracking Devices Legal
Tracking an individual just got a little bit easier. (re: Various)

Flexible Building Survives Test Quakes
Flexible buildings that flex for earthquakes, concentrating the damage in replaceable steel 'fuses'. (re: Vernor Vinge)

Computers Now Lip Read Like Humans
Remember that very far-fetched scene in 2001 where a computer reads lips? Not so far-fetched anymore. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Solo Autonomous Sewer Inspection Robot
The RedZone robot moves quickly through the sewers, lowering maintenance costs everywhere it goes. (re: Various)

A Real-Life Bridge City?
Cities in Europe have bridge cities - why not the US? (re: William Gibson)

Physicists Predict Shanghai Exchange Plunge
What would it be like if a culture sublimated the energy that usually goes into scientific discovery into advancing capitalism? (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Precision Urban Hopper Leaps Fence Video
This little leaping robot has a pretty cool video; yet another DARPA inspired project. (re: Bruce Sterling)

The Whuffie Bank: Reputation-Based Currency
This new startup will track your online reputation for you. (re: Cory Doctorow)

Sietch Nevada Dune-Inspired Underground Communities
How would you like to live in a Dune-style sietch in the waterless desert wastes of the American West? This fabulous concept should get your imagination going. (re: Frank Herbert)

Runaway Armed MQ-9 Reaper Drone Shot Down
Another cautionary tale for the age of autonomous machines. Let's be careful how we use them. (re: Harlan Ellison)

Machine Ethics With Prospective Logic
Who is responsible for the actions of autonomous systems? Can an autonomous robot make an ethical decision? (re: Various)

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. (re: Harry Harrison)

Robots With Human Brains
What is self-organizing and intelligent and comes in a convenient paste? Human brain cells, that's what. (re: Peter Watts)

H-II Transfer Vehicle Automated Freighter
Japan's first fully-automated space freighter is on its way to a successful mission; see lift-off photo and animated video of the full mission. (re: Edwin K. Sloat)

Gravitational Corridors Like Space-Lanes
Ah, to ply the space-lanes! This old sfnal dream might come true yet. (re: Edmond Hamilton)

Self-Healing Circuits For Cellphones?
This may just help alleviate one of the most terrible feelings you can have in modern times - the way you feel when you drop your cellphone or other expensive digital device. (re: Various)

Taizo Robot Exercise Instructor For Japan's Seniors
Now with Taizo robot video! Always concerned about their aging population, Japanese roboticists have created a robotic instructor to lead the way to health. (re: Various)

Spherical Soft Robots Use Shape Memory Alloys
These soft body robots move by deforming their own structure - and they're safer for soft humans to be around than those clumsy rigid body robots. Unless they're Rovers. (re: Samuel R. Delany)

Individualized Artificial Voices
If you've ever heard the artificial voice systems still in use for laryngectomy patients, you'll be pleased to know that this very old technology will be getting a digital update. (re: Various)

Be Master To Robot Slave
Be the master of your robotic slave and force it to ... play tennis? (re: Robert Heinlein)

LittleDog Robot Has Dynamic Double-Support Gait
Check out the video showing LittleDog from Boston Dynamics negotiate rough terrain. This bot teaches itself the best way to go. (re: Anthony Boucher)

Polaris Robot Mobile Phone Prototype Unveiled
Sometimes I'm too lazy to find my cell phone cradle, but I don't know if it needs to find me. Besides, the Cellular Phone Robot (2007) prototype has more functionality. (re: Various)

Regina Robot Heavy Healthcare Lifting
Could you please help transfer that unconscious sumo wrestler from his bed to a wheelchair? Regina says 'No problem.' (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

Foldy The Laundry-Folding Robot Video
For some people, it's important to have clothing folded just right. Well, robots are available to help you now. Video added to article. (re: Various)

Library Removes All Books
It's a radical move, getting rid of all of the books in your school library. Will they be missed? (re: Vernor Vinge)

Magnetic Monopoles Detected?
Do magnetic monopoles exist? And can you mine them? (re: Larry Niven)

Toyota Ignition Breathalyzer Lock
Philip K. Dick told us this was coming almost fifty years ago. Like so many other things. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Hot Ice Computer
Can you create a massively-parallel computer with a solution of super-saturated sodium acetate? Watch the video. (re: Various)

Plasmobot Amorphous Biological Robot
'The plasmodium is capable of solving complex computational tasks, such as the shortest path between points and other logical calculations.' (re: Rudy Rucker)

Laser Cooling Big Chill
SF movie goers and comic book fans alike have long been used to the idea of super-fast cooling. Scientists now put the big chill on. (re: George Lucas)

Solar Nomad Plant A Robotic Urban Parasite
Interesting mix of technologies in the work of Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza. (re: Vernor Vinge)

Gravity Tractor Research By British Scientists
It would take some planning and advance tracking, but a gravity tractor might actually work. (re: E.E. 'Doc' Smith)

Nao Robot Uses Microsoft Surface
How often is a robot shown using human interfaces in sf novels? In movies? (re: Various)

Acoustic Tweezers Create Living Cell Grid
New technology makes it possible to arrange a regular matrix of tiny objects - even living cells - in just seconds. (re: Various)

Cheap Microrobot Swarms
This amazing little bot is all on one circuit bard. Why not make a whole black cloud of them? (re: Abraham Merritt)

Computers May Crack Ancient Texts
Is it a language or is it just a bunch of little pictures? National pride fuels the debate between scholars on the Indus Valley script. Those who enjoyed the movie Blade may have seen this idea before. (re: Various)

Moonbell Generates Lunar Music
Very cool application lets you play unique musical compositions based on lunar topographic data. The music of the sphere. (re: Various)

Death Risk Rankings Provides 'Death Calculator'
Interesting website attempts to determine your chance of death in the coming year scientifically. (re: Robert Heinlein)

RIBA Robot for Interactive Body Assistance
This nursing assistant robot looks like a friendly bear; it can pick up and transfer patients weighing up to 135 pounds easily and safely. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

WAHHA GO GO Laughing Head
This baroque device recreates the sound of the human laugh by means of clever clockwork and reconstructions of human pipes and lips. Why make such a thing when synth chips cost nothing. (re: William Gibson)

SpiderBot Underconstrained Cable-Suspended Robot
One-of-a-kind robot swings from cables it shoots at the ceiling. (re: George Lucas)

Electrolux Moléculaire 3D Food Printer
This video shows a design concept that is entirely possible, based on current technology. (re: Various)

Theatrical Robots Kiss, Industrial Bots Scandalized
These robots diligently practice osculation. (re: Various)

MIT Robofish Now More Fishy
No longer mechanical contraptions with thousands of moving parts, these modern robotic fish are sleek imitations of life. (re: Michael Swanwick)

Phasma Insect Robot Runs Like A Bug
This insectile remote-controlled robot is designed to run like an insect from the ground up; that's what makes the video a bit creepy. (re: Various)

Tooth Enamel Secret To Stronger Aircraft
Looking for a new composite to build stronger planes? Smile, aerospace engineers, new materials are on the way. (re: Dan Simmons)

Spray-On Nano-Ink Solar Cells
Solar cells in a convenient spray can? Not impossible, say University of Texas researchers. (re: Larry Niven)

Sentiment Analysis: Hypercorps Need Emotion Chips
It turns out that big companies really want to know how you feel about them. Really? (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Handbot Climbs Shelves, Has Rope Launcher
This robot has two remarkable features that I've never seen on any other robot. This is exactly what I need for my sf library. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Vecna BEAR's Latest Video Exploits
This Battlefield Extraction-Assist Robot just gets better with each version. (re: Takazawa Kijuro)

Organovo Organ Printing Future Video
Very nicely done video shows the near, no longer entirely science-fictional future of medicine. (re: Philip K. Dick)

LG Watchphone Now Available
You read about it last year, but now you can buy one - if you live in Britain. (re: Chester Gould)

eniCycle Self-Balancing Tumblebug
Just the thing for engineers - if they're working on the rolling roads. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Android Glass Desk Phone
I'm really in retro gadget heaven now; this is totally an update for one of my favorite work phones at Northern Telecom back in the 1980's. (re: Hugo Gernsback)

Eye-bot Lands On Your Ceiling
Yes, look up - what's that? A ceiling fan you didn't know you had? No, it's a surveillance drone with excellent autonomous capabilities. With video. Smile for the camera! (re: Jack Vance)

Magazine To Have Video-In-Print
Integration of video into print magazines creates bizarre hybrid; augurs newspaper-sized displays. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Robot Cats Perfect For Older Britons
Ah, those engineers at the Royal Academy. They've been getting into the science fiction section of the library again, eh? (re: Philip K. Dick)

Solar Sail Craft Need Laminated Mouse Brains
We're going to need the best possible navigation computers for solar sail craft that start out near the sun and attain relativistic speeds. And you know what that means. (re: Cordwainer Smith)

ULTra Personal Pod Driverless Taxis Here!
This driverless taxi apparently lacks a depressed robotic driver; it drives itself. (re: James Blish)