Filmmaking Robot Has Roving Artistic Vision
Can a robot make a better movie than the junk shown in your local megacineplex? Here's a filmmaking robot taking its best shot at art. (re: Karen Traviss) |
UAVs Invade Public Airspace
Unmanned surveillance drones that are capable of autonomous flight are being used in Iraq. One day, you will look up - and probably not see it overhead in your neighborhood. (re: Greg Bear) |
Do-It-Yourself Microgravity Courtesy Of NASA
How can regular guys be more like those macho astronauts? NASA has found a way. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Programmable Soda - Ipifini's Choice-Enabled Packaging
SF short story nails this one; and it looks like a good consumer product. (re: Jeff Noon) |
Eventful Timebrokers Your Future
Science fiction and culture merge in Eventful, a site on which sf writer Paul Di Fillipo's timebrokers would feel right at home. (re: Paul Di Fillipo) |
Fabrican - Spray On Clothing
To change your look, just spray it on. It's clothing in a can - and Stanislaw Lem wrote about it in 1961. (re: Stanislaw Lem) |
Artificial Gravity Generator Now Possible?
Scientists have sneered at artificial gravity generators for the last 75 years. These ESA-sponsored experiments may have generated the first artificial gravity fields. (re: Olaf Stapleton) |
Radiation Aging - The Deadly Years In Space
Radiation is a problem outside of our Earth's friendly magnetic field. Accelerated aging could result. (re: John W. Campbell) |
FLAVIIR Flapless Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Flapless aircraft are stealthier and more amenable to reliable automated control. (re: Various) |
RI-MAN And Roujin-Z Robots: Elder Care Fact And Fiction
Hospital robots can go either way, according to sf writers and anime creators. Will we see both? (re: Frederik Pohl) |
Spy Cameras Watch Spy Cameras In UK
In Britain, home of 1984, surveillance cameras are under surveillance by - surveillance cameras. (re: George Orwell) |
RFID Sensor Tag Shower For Disasters
A snowstorm of RFID tags could help save lives in a disaster. (re: Robert Silverberg) |
Methanol-Powered Robot Muscles - Bend It Like Bender
Researchers working on better muscles for prosthetic devices accidentally stumble on Matt Groenings robot creation. (re: Martin Caidin) |
Moonquake-Proof Moonbases Needed?
Okay, who's been working on the problem of making sure that lunar habitats can withstand moonquakes? (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Hybrid Insect MEMS Sought By DARPA For Bug Army
DARPA rejects previous efforts and exhorts scientists to really think different in it's insect cyborg army idea. (re: Various) |
Eurotech Zypad Wrist Wearable PC Beats Tracy's
Calling all cars - the Zypad is available now! Not just a radio, but a Linux or Windows CE device. (re: Chester Gould) |
Defending Against Harmful Nanotechnology
The winners of the Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award warned us about nanomachines, but at least half a century after hard-working sf authors did. (re: Maurice A. Hugi) |
'Tricorder' Ready For Mars Rover This Year
A little pocket-sized device that can instantly determine the composition of any material? Sci-fi hogwash! Or is it? (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Autotelematic Spider Bots
These spider bots are much friendlier looking than the killer-spider-robots seen earlier this week. (re: Michael Crichton) |
E.T. Mouse Hearts Glow
Amazing fluorescing mouse embryo hearts fill researcher hearts with that special glow. E.T. too. (re: Steven Spielberg) |
Laser-Powered Aircraft Model Tested
A nifty laser-powered model plane was tested in Osaka, Japan earlier this week. (re: Niven and Pournelle) |
RISE Robot: Six-Legged BIODYNOTICS Runaway
RISE robots from DARPA come uncomfortably close to the killer-spider-robots from a 1986 movie. (re: Michael Crichton) |
Philips 100-Inch TV Parlor
Ray Bradbury warned us about big TVs; you can just about get one now. (re: Ray Bradbury) |
Eco-Be! Mini Robot From Citizen
Tiny mechanical mouse-like robots straight out of the 1940's created from watch parts. (re: Maurice A. Hugi) |
BigDog Quadruped Robot Update
Good progress on Ray Bradbury's mechanical hound from Fahrenheit 451. (re: Ray Bradbury) |
Shark Cyborgs On DARPA Remote control
In those Jaws movies, the shark seemed like it was out to get you. DARPA makes this dream come true. (re: William Gibson) |
True 3D Plasma Display
Researchers demonstrate a 3D display that does not depend on binocular eye tricks - and real plasma in mid-air! (re: Edmund Hamilton) |
'Protonic Storms' Unleashed On DNA In Space
Should astronauts watch out for the fury of protonic storms? (re: Raymond Z. Gallun) |
PKD's Scramble Suit In A Scanner Darkly Movie Trailer
The new trailer for Philip K. Dick's novel has some cool views of one of my favorite items - the scramble suit. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
LongPen By Unotchit: Margaret Atwood's Telautograph For Book Signing
Science fiction writer Margaret Atwood has created a device that makes real one of Hugo Gernsback's dreams of almost a century ago. (re: Hugo Gernsback) |
MIT Battery Research To Enable 'Electric Phaetons'
John Jacob Astor dreamed of electric cars that would serve us in 1894; all he needed was a really good battery technology. (re: John Jacob Astor) |
Quantum Telecloning And 'The Enemy Within'
It happened once to Captain Kirk by accident; now scientists have demonstrated that they can do it on purpose. Now that's progress. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Skiers Get d3o-Based 'Impact Suits'
Looks like the science-fictional 'impact suit' of the 1970's comes true in 2006. (re: D. Gerrold and L. Niven) |
US Company Implants Chips In Workers
Well, it's finally happened - US workers get chipped like dogs. (re: William Gibson) |
Pulsed Energy Projectile EMPs Your Nervous System
PEPs use plasma to electromagnetically pulse your nervous system into thinking something bad is happening. And you can fine-tune it. (re: Isaac Asimov) |
Multi-Touch Interaction Overlord Control Screen
Use both hands and all your fingers with this interface, just like Earths' Overlords. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
'Antigravity' Propulsion System Proposed
Hope blooms for space enthusiasts that it might be possible to accelerate space craft to speeds approaching that of light without crushing the contents of the craft. If it works, it could be even better than apergy. (re: Percy Greg) |
NASA Strategy For Urban Heat island NYC
NASA has strategies to help small urban heat islands like NYC. Who can help a species with a 'planet' heat island? Larry Niven, that's who. (re: Larry Niven) |
Toxoplasma Gondii Parasite Mind Control
How could a tiny parasite influence the behavior of an entire organism? (re: Robert Heinlein) |
StarChase Tracking Tag And Star Wars Homing Beacon
The Los Angeles police are taking a page from Obiwan Kenobi's book on how to chase suspects; hopefully, they will stay out of asteroid fields. (re: George Lucas) |
Liquid Mirror Telescope For Moon Studied By NASA
Liquid Mirror Telescopes are cool enough - but putting one on the moon? (re: Raymond Z. Gallun) |
Hungry? Print Yourself Some Bacon
If scientists can just about print organs, I can certainly print myself some bacon. (re: Frank Herbert) |
Games Of Tomorrow Built By Players Wiki-Style
The world's megacorporations are counting on you to do the work in the next round of online game creation. (re: Neal Stephenson) |
Concrete Canvas - Inflatable Concrete Buildings
This great portable shelter lets you create housing anywhere - even if a housing development would look like hundreds of loaves in a baker's window. (re: Larry Niven) |
Honda Accord ADAS Heinlein Wannabe
We are SO close to Heinlein's Camden Speedster. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Imation Flash Wristband: Music And Medical Informatics Miracle
Hey, kill two birds with one stone with this cool item. (re: Larry Niven) |
Crustaceans Help Build NASA's Exploration Skills
Can the humble crayfish teach NASA anything new? Turns out they've been evolving these methods for millions of years. (re: Charles Stross) |
Russian Moon Base Mining Camp
The Russians steal a page from Ray Cummings' Brigands of the Moon and look for rare materials on the moon. (re: Ray Cummings) |
SuitSat Casual Day Satellite Update
Russian brainstorming session leads to deploying space suits as satellites. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
AMANDA May Find Probes To Other Dimensions
The AMANDA neutrino array team may have some positive results in the use of high-energy neutrinos in proving the existence of higher dimensions. (re: James Blish) |
MASTOR Provides Real-Time Speech Translation
Real-time speech translation from one language to another; is the world ready for one of Gernsback's 1911 language rectifiers? (re: Hugo Gernsback) |
'Electric Sheep' Gaining On Real Pets
Cute, cuddly robotic pets bring humans some of the same benefits as real pets. Electric sheep, anyone? (re: Philip K. Dick) |
NanoTerminator Prevents Annoying Space Debris Build-Up
The journal Science puts out more predictions on space junk; manga author already has the answer. (re: Makoto Yukimura) |
Dynasty Trusts Lively Topic For Corpsicles
Cold cash for corpsicles; before freezing, cryonauts put assets on ice. (re: Larry Niven) |
Anti-Adhesive Surfaces Of Plants
The natural world is the source of some of the best 'thinking' in materials science. (re: Clifford Simak) |
The Real ICT Scent Collar
Here's the real scent collar. (re: Frank Herbert) |
Skiing That Soft Lunar Powder
Skiing on the moon? Heinlein thought you could do it, and so do the Apollo astronauts. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
XPod Activity And Emotion Aware Mobile Music Player
A sensitive iPod? These researchers have a player that knows what you want before you do. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Soldiers Trained To Obey Odors With Scent Delivery Device
Soldiers must obey their odors - yes, that's right, odors. Maybe they should call them 'oders'. (re: Frank Herbert) |
Lucent DVR Sleep Detector
Robert Heinlein anticipated Lucent technologies by forty-five years on this one. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Ratheon Swimmer Denial
Divers beware; Raytheon has your (pulse and frequency) number. (re: Roger Zelazny) |
Algae To Clean Atmosphere
Atmospheric cleansing by means of carefully selected algae has been suggested before. (re: Niven and Pournelle) |
Sony Reader Electronic Paper Book
Sony tries again with the Sony Reader - much improved DRM over its lockdown predecessor the LIBRIe. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
DARPA Radar Scope Can Sense Thru Walls
New DARPA device senses you breathing through a twelve inch thick concrete wall. (re: Frank Herbert) |
Dynalifter Prototype Ready For Flight
Amateur aircraft builders create the prototype for giant heavy lifter airships. (re: Jerry Pournelle) |
Air Force Ready For Space War
The USAF is ready for Space Wars - maybe even Ender's Game. They're looking for game designers. (re: Orson Scott Card) |
Self-Steering Buses In Cambridge
Self-steering cars and buses are coming! (re: Isaac Asimov) |
Black MA-1 Jacket Written Into Existence By William Gibson
William Gibson writes it, and they make one for him. Damn. (re: William Gibson) |
National Archives And Dune's House Records
Who's thought about records spanning milennia? Frank Herbert, that's who. (re: Frank Herbert) |
USB Memory 'Swiss'
Karen Traviss thinks about the USB Memory Swiss Army knife a year in advance of the press release. (re: Karen Traviss) |
Cormorant Submarine/Sea Launched MPUAV
The Cormorant submarine and sea launched vehicle concept may remind you of science fiction glories past. (re: Gerry Anderson) |
Palm Vein Authentication First, Then Book
No more worries about lost library cards; just flash your palm at the reader. (re: William Gibson) |
TREETENTS And House Trees
Interesting realization of the pod-like dwellings described generations ago by Jack Vance. (re: Jack Vance) |
Air Warrior Microclimatic Cooling Garments Tested By Army
The Army is testing personal cooling vests for soldiers in Iraq; Philip K. Dick suggested them in the sixties. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Honey Bees Can Recognize You!
Will trained honey bees be the next thing in face recognition and security technology? (re: Frank Herbert) |
Fantastic Voyage Of Self-assembling Peptide Nanofibers
Researchers write a sequel to the sixties film. (re: Isaac Asimov) |
Tweezer Magnifier Available Now (Bush Robots - Not)
What will they think of next? As my eyes age, I need this. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
USB Bible Tougher Than Filament OC Bible
More durable than the filament paper book; good for space travellers. (re: Frank Herbert) |
Robotic Space Spiders To Crawl Sub-Orbital Web
Very cool upcoming space launch, in which minisatellites hold out a web while small space spider robots crawl in microgravity. (re: Charles Sheffield) |
Terasem Conference On Law Of Transhuman Persons
This past weekend, the First Annual Colloquium on the Law of Transhuman Persons took place in Florida (re: Larry Niven) |
Crickets Now Have 'Holodeck'
Crickets get theirs first, thanks to helpful humans. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Implanted Biothermal RFID Chips May Warn Of Avian Flu
Digital Angel, which makes VeriChips for humans, suggests using its thermal biosensing chips to check chickens for avian flu. (re: William Gibson) |
Robotic Sentry Gun From USMechatronics
Two brothers build an autonomous robotic sentry gun as a summer project. (re: Michael Crichton) |
Taipei 101 Tower Causing Earthquakes?
Has the world's tallest skyscraper caused quakes in a normally stable zone? (re: William Alden) |
Virtual Air Guitar Totally Rocks, Dude
Awesome virtual air guitar hack lets others hear what you've been playing for years. (re: John Brunner) |
d3o-based RibCap: Flexible-Rigid Beanie-Helmet For Snowsports
It's a helmet! No, it's a soft beanie cap! You're both right, kids - its the Ribcap with d3o. (re: Gerrold/Niven) |
AMouse: Bradbury's Robot Mice Get Real Whiskers
At last, Ray Bradbury's robotic cleaning mice are coming closer - this bot has real mouse whiskers. (re: Ray Bradbury) |
Hayabusa Spacecraft Makes Asteroid Landing
Craft lands on an asteroid just 65 years after Robert Heinlein described it in a story. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Space Aliens: The 'Mother' Of All Hallucinations?
What do so-called 'abductees' see when they describe that big head alien guy? A psychologist weighs in. (re: Various) |
ANPR Cams - Britain's Roadside Big Brother
The UK's ANPR cameras will log the movement of every vehicle on the roads. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
T-Rot Thinking Robot Tends Bar, Chats
Finally, a real live bartending robot, who will mix and hand you your drink and listen to your troubles. (re: Harry Harrison) |
Amazon Mechanical Turk - Humans Help Slow Computers
It turns out that there are still a few things that humans are good for, as far as computers are concerned. (re: Amitav Ghosh) |
AI Software 'Robot' Lawyers Next Year
Software lawyers from Brin novel are just around the corner. (re: David Brin) |
Implant For Nausea Relief
Newly patented system for relieving nausea already suggested by Lois McMaster Bujold. (re: Lois McMaster Bujold) |
Catholic Belief And Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life
Jesuits in fact and in fiction aproach the question of whether aliens might exist, and if they have souls. (re: James Blish) |
Earth Skunk Cabbage And Martian Desert Cabbage
Heinlein also wrote about cabbages that could regulate their internal temperature. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Military Sets PHASR On Stun
Send security down to the transporter - and don't forget the PHASR rifles. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
DARPA's Radiation Decontamination (And 'Doc' Smith's Dekon)
DARPA and a host of scientists are working on decontamination techniques for dirty bombs. (re: E.E. 'Doc' Smith) |
IMPASS Robot Has Snow Crash 'Smart Wheels'
Neal Stephenson's smart wheels from Snow Crash are ready to move off the drawing board. (re: Neal Stephenson) |
Bush Robots - Fingers On Your Fingers On Your Fingers...
From Heinlein to Moravec to MacLeod - bush robots are cool. (re: Robert Forward) |
TMSUK Robot Carries Your Bags
John Brunner referred to an implementation of this idea that sounded like more fun. (re: John Brunner) |
Remote Control For Humans
NTT's prototype of a consumer version of a galvanic vestibular stimulation machine really works. (re: Various) |
Robofish Autonomous Fish-bot At London Acquarium
Autonomous fish-bots based on the common carp are swimming free in the London Aquarium. (re: Michael Swanwick) |
Transparent Aluminum Armor Tested By Military
Transparent aluminum armor (ALON) well along in testing, and is considered superior to other see-through choices. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
'Cellborg' Humidity Gauge First Bacterial Cyborg
For the first time, a living bacterium is assimilated borg-style into an electronic circuit. Resistance is futile! (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
AESA Radars Used As 'Death Ray' Weapons?
The Pentagon is actively developing electronically scanned array (AESA) radars that could be used as weapons. (re: George Griffith) |
TactaPad Puts Your Hands In The Digital World
TactaPad lets you put your hands right into the digital world, allowing you to manipulate objects on the screen as easily as possible. (re: Various) |
Siemens Working On Stephenson's 'Mediatron'
Siemens has lowered the price of thin, flexibles displays enough to bring the mediatron, a flexible, updatable newspaper, into reality. (re: Neal Stephenson) |
Apple Video iPod - And HG Wells
Apple's iPod is a great way to take movies with you. (re: H.G. Wells) |
Lab Mice Unexpectedly Regenerate Limbs, Organs
Mice bred to contract lupus are found to regrow limbs and organs. (re: Neal Asher) |
Vast Ocean Glow Confirms Jules Verne Novel
A luminescent area the size of the state of Connecticut was seen by satellite this past week - just like in 20K Leagues Under the Sea. (re: Jules Verne) |
Spider Blood In Amber Brings Jurassic Park Closer
Is it possible to get DNA from the blood of this ancient spider. (re: David Brin) |
iRobot Scooba And Heinlein's 'Hired Girl' Robot
Heinlein thought of it - iRobot implemented it - it only took us fifty years to catch up to RAH (this time). (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Autonomous Soaring Project UAV Cloud Swift
NASA experiments with tiny surveillance planes that can catch air currents autonomously. (re: Roger Zelazny) |
Blinkx.tv And Heinlein's Newsbox
Robert Heinlein wrote about something similar two generations ago. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Pioneer 3D Hand Waving Interface
Here's a way to draw pictures in the air - on your PC. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Robot English Teacher From KAIRA
A robotic english teacher is now being used in pilot programs in Seoul, Korea. (re: James Blish) |
Chatty Tom Talking Bear From Tomy
Talking teddy bears? Harrison and Aldiss wrote about them in the sixties. (re: Harry Harrison) |
Armed Dolphins Freed By Katrina?
Armed dolphins trained to hunt terrorists may be loose in the Gulf of Mexico, freed accidentally by Katrina. (re: Various) |
Second Skin Architecture: Mining Deep Mind
Architecture students go deep within and bring back visions of second skins. (re: A.E. van Vogt) |
Lower Limit For Nanobot Size Discovered
Scientists and science fiction writers must accept new limits to imagination, thanks to a remarkable first-ever measurement. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Domo Robot: Unstructured Interaction Over Time
Designed specifically to interact with people in unstructred environments for long periods, not just short tasks. (re: Issac Asimov) |
VirtuSphere Immersive Virtual Reality
A key enabling technology for a working star trek holodeck. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
First Undersea Restaurant
Ithaa opened just forty years after Jack Vance wrote about them. (re: Jack Vance) |
Liftport Closer To Space Elevator Goal
Liftport Group has moved closer to making a working space elevator this past week. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Fab Tree Hab And The Houses Of Iszm
Imagine a society in which living tree structures were used instead of dead lumber; Jack Vance has done it, and so have MIT grads. (re: Jack Vance) |
Light Captured In A Crystal
Normally speedy light stopped for a full second in a crystal by Australian researchers. (re: Bob Shaw) |
Maru Robot Networked Like I, Robot's NS5
The network-enabled robot has a bipedal, humanoid appearance; software is downloaded via the wireless Internet. (re: Harry Harrison) |
Weather As Art
In the aftermath of Katrina, many of us wish that we had greater control over the weather; sf writer John Varley wrote a great story about it. (re: John Varley) |
AKROD v2 - Active Knee Rehabilitation Device Human Trials
Human trials of the programmable, portable robotic knee brace called the AKROD will begin soon (re: Various) |
Blob Analysis Key To Next Generation Computerized Lie Detectors
Blob analyzing computers can tell if you're lying - maybe. (re: H. Beam Piper) |
WolframTones Cell Phone Tones From Cellular Automata
Wintermute back on your cellphone, mon. (re: William Gibson) |
Backpack Generator Harnesses Power Of Walking
The brisk strides of hikers converted into electricity. (re: Frank Herbert) |
Southampton Remedi Hand Beats Hollywood
Better than Hollywood special effects, it provides more degrees of freedom and advanced feedback control. (re: George Lucas) |
Shelter After Katrina
Readers wrote in suggesting that perhaps science fiction writers had some ideas that could be of practical use. (re: Various) |
DARPA's Walrus and Griffith's War-Balloons
Not your great-grandfather's airship, the Walrus will be able to lift a fighting force. (re: George Griffith) |
Philips Readius E-Reader With Rollable Display
First prototype of a rollable display electronic document reader. (re: William Gibson) |
The 'Flying Carpet' of Seyed Alavi
Stand tall - two miles tall - and walk the earth like a giant on this 'flying carpet.' (re: Larry Niven) |
Symbiotic Sphere By Space Synapse
Art and space science combine for earthlings - a cheaper way to visit space is coming. (re: Clifford Simak) |
Klotho Anti-Aging Gene
A gene in mice and men may give long life, but not without a possible price. (re: Larry Niven) |
HELLADS: Lightweight Laser Cannon
Ultra-light High Energy Liquid Lasers are coming. (re: Niven/Pournelle) |
The Robotic Blanket Project And The Hunting Robe
The robotic blanket interacts with users; the hunting robe traps them. (re: Clifford Simak) |
Wing-Morphing Micro Air Vehicles
Bird-like MAVs use wings based on sea gulls to navigate urban canyons. (re: Jack Vance) |
Babelfish Necklace: Environment Translator
Provides a 3D soundscape, 'translating' the environment for the visually impaired. (re: Douglas Adams) |
Animaris Percipiere: Walking Robotic Sculpture Stores Wind Energy
Huge clockwork automata beasts roaming the beaches - they live on wind power. (re: Jack Vance) |
Tanaka Auto Door
You may be wondering what is so great about a door that opens only just enough to let a person come in or out... besides being cool. (re: Jules Verne) |
Carbon Nanotube Ribbon For Space Elevator
An amazing development - real hyperfilaments just like Clarke described for building a space elevator. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Lynntech Non-Lethal Weapon - Jules Verne Right Again
Under DARPA's auspices, Lynntech of College Station, Texas, is developing a non-lethal projectile with a longer range than a Taser. (re: Jules Verne) |
Piezer - Homeland Security Orders Verne's 1875 'Leyden Ball'
DARPA is looking for an untethered electro-muscular disruption non-lethal stun weapon. (re: Jules Verne) |
Inertial Capacitive Incapacitor: HomeSec Does Verne
With Homeland Security, Physical Optics Corporation is taking a page from nineteenth century science fiction writer Jules Verne. (re: Jules Verne) |
