Covert Iris Scanner Close To Minority Report Future
Don't take your privacy for granted, Mr. Anderton. They've got public iris scanning now. (re: Stephen Spielberg)

Whereabouts Clock Set to 'Unreleased'
What ever happened to the Whereabouts Clock? I should have one by now - all my kids have cell phones. (re: J.K. Rowling)

Robot Parking In Fact and In Fiction
Okay, George Jetson had a car that folded into a briefcase; but you can take your car to NYC and have the robot garage park it for you in real life. (re: Robert Heinlein)

WiiBot Kuka Robot Controlled WiiMotely
Two engineers create a non-trivial fencing and tennis-playing robot - part Kuka, part Wii. (re: Frank Herbert)

Whisson Windmills To Water Australia Like Vaporators?
Inventor from Oz creates windmills that pull water from the air - then you'll really need a droid that speaks the binary language of moisture vaporators. (re: George Lucas)

Transformer Clothing
J.G. Ballard wrote about clothing that would do this - but it's been implemented using a more mechanistic technology. (re: J.G. Ballard)

Immortal Computing - Microsoft's 'House Records'
Interesting patent troll by Microsoft reveals an interest in the history of computers and digital information. (re: Frank Herbert)

Active Denial System Heat Ray Warming Up
Raytheon finally gets this nonlethal crowd-dispersing weapon out in public view. (re: H.G. Wells)

Sniffer Robot With Infotaxis Algorithms On The Hunt
New algorithms bring Ray Bradbury's hunting mechanical hound closer - do you know who has your olfactory combination on file? (re: Ray Bradbury)

TechX Urban Warfare Robot Challenge
Street-fighting autonomous robots wanted for new Challenge. (re: James Cameron)

DAVID Freeware Laser Range Scanning
Excellent software package solves problems that only science fiction authors attempted a generation ago. (re: Jack Vance)

Chaos Robot - Four Track Offroad Flailing
Unusual design permits this little 'bot to crawl practically anywhere. (re: Various)

Internet Kiosks Around The World
Everywhere you go, there you are - on the Internet. (re: Various)

Robot Nurses Seem Unavoidable
Worried about impersonal health care? How about some nice, caring 'intelligent robot swarms?' (re: David H. Keller)

Gemotion Bas Relief Display
Unique technology provides a soft, 'living' 3D surface vision. (re: Various)

Drivemocion More Expressive Than KITT
I hope this thing offers more than just the smiley face. (re: Various)

HyperBike - NASA-Supported Heinlein Lunocycle?
This unique bicycle combines elements of old-fashioned big wheels and racing wheelchairs. NASA's interested, too. (re: Robert Heinlein)

HCID: Handwear Computer Input Device Combat Glove
Interesting military control glove concept under development. (re: Various)

Khronos Projector at NextFest 2006
Very cool interface should give you a new thought about the iPhone - flexible screen! (re: Various)

Gravity Assist Will Help Pluto-Bound Craft
Jupiter will offer NASA a real speed boost in February - who thought of how to do it first? (re: Ray Cummings)

Slow Light 'Scenedow' Close At Hand
It looks like a prototype 'scenedow' from Light of Other Days has been created at the University of Rochester. (re: Bob Shaw)

PongSats - Tiny 'Satellites' At Space's Edge
Excellent program allows amateurs to send their experiments aloft. (re: Robert Silverberg)

Put Your Ads Where Space Begins
These ads are taken to the edge of space, but can't quite be viewed by space tourists. (re: Alan Nelson)

Motorola AUDEX Jacket With Sleeve Controls
Love those Leinster sleeve controls; the jacket does have a 1940's appeal to it. (re: Murray Leinster)

Invisible RFID Ink Tattoos For Cattle, People
This new technology solves several vexing problems, and it makes it easy for large unruly herds to be tracked more easily. (re: Niven/Barnes)

Advertising-Funded Cellphone Content
Free phone service may be coming whether you like it or not. The system depends on it. (re: J.G. Ballard)

Cellular Phone Robot And iPhone - Joymaker Wannabes
Pohl's amazing joymaker from his 1965 novel still exceeds the vision presented for cellphones - but not by much. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Digital Billboards Worth Billions
This part of our science-fictional future I can really live without; you'll pay money for unmarked, non-ad-saturated nature. (re: J.G. Ballard)

Exoskeleton Like Halo Suit
If you can build a suit to fight with bears, you can build a military exoskeleton with some practical experience built in. (re: Various)

The Pirate Bay Wants Data Haven On Sealand
One way or the other, The Pirate Bay wants a place to do data storage without interference from governments. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Contour Crafting House Printer Nears Test
It appears that the work of Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis and his 'house printer' will finally get a real-world test in the next few months. (re: Murray Leinster)

Roboboa Dancing Robot Snake
Those folks at WowWee have been busy; this article may link to cooler robotic snakes, but none that you can buy off the shelf. (re: Roger Zelazny)

iPhone Multi-Touch Screen's Big Brother(s)
If you think Steve Jobs is a good salesman, watch Jeff Han. (re: Stephen Spielberg)

Canadian Coins Are Bugged Money
DoD reports say that contractors have received cash with listening devices - now, where have I read that before? (re: Bruce Sterling)

Meth Coffee Now The Coffiest
It's an edgy beverage with a special alkaloid dusted right in. (re: Pohl/Kornbluth)

Fab@Home 'Fabber' Freeform Fabricator
Lipson and Malone bring the printing of three-dimensional objects into the home with this project. (re: Jack Williamson)

Robopanda Toys Last All Summer Long
This is one robotic bear that comes with its own toys. (re: Harry Harrison)

Map Of World Happiness - A Global Projection of Subjective Well-Being
For the first time, a global projection of happiness is available; how happy are you? (re: Various)

Skin Cells Genetically Modified To Fight Infection
This medical advance will help burn patients, who face lethal infection in skin graft procedures. (re: John Varley)

Parasitic Worms Create 'Zombie' Snails
I thought Toxoplasma gondii was bad, but these poor snails really get a raw deal. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Use Google To Search The Heavens
Google has once again allied themselves with a spectacular scientific project - have they bitten off more data than they can chew? (re: Neal Stephenson)

Robotic Cable Inspection System
This unique robot operates under very difficult and constrained conditions; we need one of these for the space elevator program, too. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Roboquad Quadruped Robot From WowWee
This four-legged robot toy from WowWee will chase your cat for you. (re: Various)

Romi Robot Orwellian Vacuum Cleaner
Diminutive vacuum cleaner - is really a spybot. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Disco Capsule Endoscope Theme Park Video
Awesome promotional video takes you to places you never imagined, yet lie within you. Really. (re: Various)

Self-Cleaning Sportswear
Newfangled clothing may never need to be washed - even your old gym socks. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Desktop Nanofactory Video
Excellent visualization of how it might work; not really news, but worth watching. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Liquid Lakes On Titan Ready For Robofish
Newly available radar imaging data from Cassini's latest flyby appears to confirm it. (re: Michael Swanwick)

EveR2-Muse Robot's Many Faces
The latest incarnation of the EveR2-Muse entertainment fembot now includes the latest feminine emotions. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Transgenic Pigs Glow Green
Diligent Chinese researchers with one eye on the calendar create three little piggies with a green glow. (re: Margaret Atwood)

Too Many Mars Missions Planned?
Very funny spoof of the increasing traffic on Mars. (re: Various)

NASA Needs Fake Moondust By The Ton
NASA engineers need moondust to perfect plans for lunar return in the next decade. (re: Various)

Peter Robbins' Alicia, Tom Swift's Jetmarine
Remarkable homebrew submersible allows builder to live his Tom Swift-inspired fantasy. (re: Victor Appleton)

Actroid DER2 Late Model Fembot
This robotic receptionist upgrade has many new features. (re: Fritz Leiber)

Virtual Milgram Experiment
In this unusual twist on an iconic psych experiment of the 1960's, humans show what they are made of. (re: Various)

Trackable Clothing Now Solar Powered
These jackets could come in handy just for regular people traveling in their cars, based on recent events. (re: Various)

First Jetpowered Flying Man
Apparently, the first successful jet-pack; it looks pretty good on YouTube. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Snake-like Robots For Throat Surgery Doc Ock-Style
Snakelike robots down your throat? Fortunately, they will be under the control of skilled physicians. (re: Various)

Polar Rose Photo Privacy And Surveillance Concerns
Polar Rose finally addresses some of the privacy and surveillance concerns of its critics. (re: Various)

iEarth From Google, Nasa... Snow Crash?
New application effectively implements application envisaged in Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Insect Lab Beetle Clockwork Sculpture
Not robots - but an amazingly cool set of sculptures that are a science-fiction fan's dream come true - if you think about insects and clockwork. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Sweet Wheat - No Sugar Added
New development in plants means no more teaspoons full of sugar for your morning cereal. (re: Various)

Porta-Person Remote Conferencing Stand-In
Remote-controlled portable person helps teleconferencers be in two places at once. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Power Sheet Provides Flexible Wireless Electricity
This system could provide great flexibility for recharging all of your zillions of devices, without having to take a zillion separate chargers everywhere. (re: Various)

Compact Vortex Generator Inspired By Squids
Biomimetics scores another triumph - this time, pulsatile jet propulsion. (re: Various)

Robotic Hand Has Sensitive Fingertips
Latest version of the Southampton robotic hand is very sensitive indeed. (re: Ray Cummings)

Baseball Batting Robot May Make Steroids Obsolete
This guy isn't as bulked up as some of today's players, but he's honest about what he uses - compressed air. (re: Various)

Martians Could Kill Life On Earth, Says Scientist
A prominent UK scientist apparently believes that it is possible that Martian water harbors life - maybe dangerous life. (re: H.G. Wells)

Grow Your Own Furniture
Christopher Castle has a uniquely green solution to creating furniture the all-natural way. (re: Jack Vance)

Philips Readius E-Ink Video
This video really demonstrates how cool this device is. (re: William Gibson)

Innespace Dolphin Boat Breaks The Surface
This is another cool dolphin boat - closer to a product this time. (re: David Brin)

RoomRender Futuristic Smart Room
The smart room has moved beyond prototype to a product that is now available. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Bio Ink Jet Printing Muscle And Bone
This unique system is the first step in creating replacements for complex body structures like joints. (re: Various)

Butterfly Wing Phone Screen
This unusual design has the virtue of being realizable with today's technology. (re: William Gibson)

Augmented Reality Shopping In Osaka
Using this system, you could see how you looked in different items of apparel without that tedious dressing and undressing. (re: Vernor Vinge)

Earth Barcoded For Alien Convenience
A seemingly innocent art project meant to get you thinking about our real and virtual worlds is so much more, if you know how to look at it. (re: Jules Verne)

Hack Your Reality The Virtual Way
Yet another way for us to manipulate ourselves; and for others to manipulate our internal worlds, perhaps. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Sawfish Underwater Lumberjack Robot
This product dives underwater to recover lumber otherwise wasted in reservoirs and lakes. (re: Various)

2 Lunar Base Concepts 75 Years Apart
NASA has released some of their thinking about lunar exploration; read what others thought seventy-five years earlier. (re: Ray Cummings)

Soviet Military Prison Dream Vacation
I really thought I'd seen everything you could do for vacation. Obviously, I lead a sheltered life. (re: Various)

My Spoon Robot On Full Auto
This is a great addition to the assistive technologies now available commercially. It also poses a danger to Americans. (re: Various)

Russia Studies Space-Elevator Clusters For Moon
Russia enters the space tether slingshot race - a 'space railway' that will reduce the cost of boosting payloads to the Moon. (re: Various)

Rity - Sobot Longs To Be Near You
This remarkable experiment demonstrates that a computer program can download itself into objects to serve you. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Femtosecond Laser Pulse Turns Metals Pitch Black
Remarkable process creates a perfectly black finish without paints or other coatings. (re: E.E. 'Doc Smith)

Urban Cactus Architecture
This unusual building calls other science-fictional buildings to mind. (re: Jack Vance)

Microrobot To Swim Like Bacteria With Flagellar Propeller
Dr. Friend and his team have been working on the propulsion system that will make this possible. (re: Various)

RoboSalmon Are Descended From SHARCs
Ah, the RoboSalmon are returning to Glasgow, Scotland to spawn... Well, they are building the first one there. (re: Michael Swanwick)

'Precrime' Database For London Homicide Prevention Unit
London's Metropolitan Precrime ... I mean, Police Homicide Prevention Unit are looking for people who will one day commit crimes. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Online Magic Wardrobe From Accenture
The study that goes along with this thing has some interesting ideas in it. Even if you aren't much for fashion. (re: Philip K. Dick)

RIDC-01 Robot Maid Will Not Replace Rosie In Our Hearts
This robot maid is, unfortunately, not yet commercially available, but it actually exists, unlike Rosie from the Jetson's. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Reborg-Q May You Shop In Peace
Not just a mall walker, this robot can sense water and fire, check employee security badges and even make promotional announcements. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

Electronic Erasable Paper - Xerox Seeks E-Palimpsest
Xerox is still looking for the perfect palimpsest - eraseable electronic reusable paper. (re: Greg Bear)

Detect Aggressive Voices With Sigard By Sound Intelligence
If you've been waiting for HAL to tell you to take a stress pill, your wait is over. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Shape-Memory Polymers Temperature Morphing
Special polymers perform amazing stunts in response to modest temperature changes. (re: Samuel R. Delany)

Digital Bible Player
At last - a pious portable media player. (re: Frank Herbert)

Smart Homes And Municipal Darwinism
Recycling and self-sufficient, self-fueling homes are one thing, but let's not let this thing get out of hand. (re: Philip Reeve)

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... (re: David Brin)

Modafinil 24-hour Living Through Chemistry
Is sleep a lifestyle choice? Read on. (re: Paul Di Filippo)

Lifeblood And Beta Tank Bubble-Based 'Stereo Tanks'
Unusual sculptures that use bubbles as pixels in low-res displays - 2D and 3D. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Be The Soul Of The New Machine
This tele-operated robot will move along with you as you walk, and let you manipulate objects in a remote environment. (re: Clifford Simak)

Robot Walks After Conceptualizing Own Structure
Amazing video shows robot introspecting to determine its own structure, and then constructing a gait for itself. (re: Roger P. Graham)

Optimus OLED(Not!) Keyboard Chameleon
This keyboard changes its colors (or its keys) for every occasion. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

First Chinese Security Guard Robot
This security bot is able to avoid obstacles, follow a predesignated route and send images of trouble. (re: Philip K. Dick)

'New' Israeli Bionic Hornet Concept Is 70 Years Old
The Israelis shouldn't bother with making up science-fictional insect-sized robots - let the writers do it! (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Chick Embryo Regrows Wing With Wnt Signaling
Remarkable achievement from the Salk Institute; eleven years of work have paid off. (re: Frank Herbert)

Jardiland Real Radish Races Via Internet
Virtualized real-world pets, these radishes are real radicles. (re: Various)

Manned Asteroid Mission For Constellation Program?
Other uses are being planned for the lunar landing gear NASA already has in the works. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Starfish Robot Shows Robotic Introspection And Self-Modeling
Amazing proprioceptive robot creates a model of its shape automatically; it can sense damage to itself and reconfigure its walk. (re: Roger P. Graham)

Wireless Power For Laptops, Cellphones?
An old concept perhaps made new with "non-radiative" wireless power transmission. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Anti-Viral Polymer Paints Flu Into A Corner
This paint, applied to doorknobs and doors and nursery/day care walls can significantly reduce the transmission of bacteria and flu viruses. (re: )

Dattoo Personal Skinprint Technology Concept
Dattoos are a concept now, but they could be implemented with technologies we have now. (re: John Varley)

Electric Voting From Home Via Internet
John Brunner wrote about electronic voting in a very revealing way in 1975 (re: John Brunner)

Space Mirrors Could Create Mars Pocket-Eden
Rigel Woida has been given funding to explore an unusual means of making Mars more comfortable for human exploration. (re: Niven, Pournelle, Flynn)

UK SimCity-Style Social Policy Model - A Kingdom In A Box
UK social science researchers make an old idea new again - Stanislaw Lem's 'kingdom in a box.' (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Terminator Tongues - USAF Seeks Voice Transformation Tech
Why does the USAF want soldiers to be able to talk like someone else? (re: Various)

Squid Robot Underwater Inspector Has Unique Propulsion
This underwater robot has a completely unique biomimetic means of propulsion. (re: Various)

Robots Making Smaller Robots Making Smaller Robots
Robotic technologies make possible smaller and smaller manufactured goods - too small for people to make. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Dr. Google Works For Patients, Doctors
Physicians who used search engine giant Google to make diagnoses did amazingly well. (re: Various)

Concrete Screen Technology Bucks Trend
Forget about those flimsy thin screens - here's a display that will stand up to the real world. Don't drop it on your foot, though. (re: Various)

Propulsion System For 'Fantastic Voyage' Robot
A novel propulsion system that works for micro-robots to be injected inside the body. (re: Harry Kleiner)

Rollerman Jean-Yves Blondeau
Design student wants to prove people can roll in any position. QED, baby. (re: Various)

Reactable Electro-Acoustic Tabletop Music Synthesizer
This music synthesizer can be played by anyone; it looks as cool as it sounds. (re: Various)

Robotender Ernie First Robot Bartender
This is a surprisingly early robotic bartender that could really do it all - except maybe ask for your keys. (re: Alfred Bester)

Smart Dog Tags
If the problems can be overcome, soldiers will be able to caarry their full medical charts wherever they go. (re: )

Cheoptics 360 3D Display Technology
This new display would be perfect for tradeshows and conventions, not to mention the control room of your rocket ship. (re: Edmond Hamilton)

RI-MAN Face Tracking, Electronic Nose Robot Update
This 'bot has some great features not documented earlier. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

Snake-Arm Robot In A Plane
No, really. There are snake-arm robots in planes - not on planes, but in them. (re: H.G. Wells)

Cabrini-Green Windy City Musical Building
The partially demolished towers of Cabrini-Green project in Chicago are now playing mournful music appropriate to the Windy City. (re: George R.R. Martin)

Space Sunshade Idea Now Worrisomely Popular
It appears that the idea of creating enormous space artifacts that will save us from global warming is starting to become mainstream. (re: Various)

Sketch Furniture Ultra Rapid Prototyping
Amazing technology so advanced only children's fantasy could predict it; the purple crayon is included. (re: Murray Leinster)

Disappearing-Pattern Tiles Show Energy Use
I had no idea how much money I spend every month on heating the water used for showers, etc.; this project provides feedback on energy use that is simple and beautiful. (re: Various)

Heineken To Track Beer By Satellite
Heineken is determined to streamline their international shipping process - not to mention keep a close eye on the beer. (re: Various)

Energy Curtain Captures Energy From Sunlight
This fascinating and useful project is both decorative and thought-provoking in its demonstration of energy choices. (re: Various)

NextFest 2006 Devices, Stories And Pictures
NextFest had so many cool things that I'm still digging into my pile of digital photos and writing stories. (re: Various)

World's Highest Resolution Seamless Display Has 60M Pixels
Not just a hi-res display, this is a means of having an arbitrarily large high resolution display. Sixty million pixels is just the beginning. (re: Ray Bradbury)

The Church of Elvis
This is not the first online church virtual experience, but you might actually be closer to Elvis. (re: Neal Stephenson)

HAL Robotic Suit Ready For Production
Those Heinlein robotic exoskeletons you ordered? Limited functionality suits will soon be available for about $600 per month. (re: )

Unmanned Hotels Project By Itochu/Orico
The impersonal hotel gets even more so; the Hotel Hendrix from Altered Carbon comes closer. (re: Richard Morgan)

World's First Artificial Human Liver Grown In Lab
The creation of 'mini-livers' from stem cells may be in time to avoid the dangers of too much demand in the organ transplant field. (re: Larry Niven)

N.S.E.C.T. Robotic Attack Insect From Tyco
This so-called toy is a terrifying realization of the deadly insect robots in Crichton's Runaway; Gene Simmons, beware! (re: Michael Crichton)

Shadow Robot Hand With Air Muscles
The Shadow Hand provides a very humanlike feel, due to the unique muscles that power hand motions; seen at NextFest 2006. (re: Various)

Biological Cybernetics Lab Dextrous Robot Hand
Very quick to respond, the only difference is the 'clacking' sound it made when it gestured; seen at NextFest 2006. (re: Various)

Robotic Hands Get A Grip
Blue collar droids get their wish this Christmas - better hands! (re: Various)

Bionic Dolphins And Whale Waldoes
Amazing prototype submersible is not your father's water toy; this baby's got a Corvette engine. (re: David Brin)

Big Brother Would Like A Word With You
In a dubious zero-tolerance policy toward unwanted behavior, Britain lets Big Brother do the talking. (re: George Orwell)

SunTracker One Brings The Sun Inside
Very cool device to bring a significant amount of light inside your house or building regardless of the sun's direction. (re: Ray Bradbury)

PaPeRo Robot Childcare In Japan
Phil Dick's robot nanny could beat up this childcare robot - but PaPeRo actually exists and is working with children today. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Two Human Species In 100,000 Years? Stick With Wells
Will the human species bifurcate into Haves and Have-Nots? Eloi and Morlocks? (re: H.G. Wells)

Undergrad Proposes Asteroids As Radiation Shields
Excellent idea from a 19 year-old undergrad - and Arthur C. Clarke - could get astronauts to Mars more safely. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Bio-Shirts From Korea Monitor Athletes
Very lightweight shirt to help elite athletes (and amateurs) train and avoid overstraining themselves - maybe you'll wear one when you get older. (re: Rudy Rucker)