Rotundus And Rover: Robotic And Fictional Guardians (Updated)
The Rotundus robot is a rather unusual spherical bot that moves using an internal pendulum. The robot was originally designed for planetary exploration at the Ångström Space Technology Center, part of Uppsala University, Sweden. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

Space Rescue Technology In Fact And Fiction
NASA is preparing a backup shuttle and rescue crew in case shuttle Discovery has problems in May. Rescue flights have been become more of an issue since shuttle Columbia broke up in reentry two years ago. SF writers have been working on this since th (re: Various)

Eunicycle Single-Wheel Gyro-Stabilized Scooter
Dr. Trevor Blackwell has constructed a self-balancing, powered unicycle he calls the Eunicycle. It's pretty close to what Robert Heinlein had in mind in 1940 in The Roads Must Roll. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Water-Repellent 'Bumpy' Glass Mimics Lotus Leaves
The lotus is a good model for a water-repellent surface; they are waxy and covered with tiny bumps that make water roll off. Surfaces like ordinary glass are naturally wettable; when water is poured onto it, its surface tension is reduced so it sprea (re: Frank Herbert)

Sega idog Robot Puppy (Update)
Sega unleashed its newest creation in Tokyo; a robotic dog called idog that can compose, play and dance to music. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Throwbot - Pocket-Sized Recon Robot
Redstone Arsenal is developing the Throwbot, a soda can-sized robot to aid soldiers in quickly gathering more information about their immediate environment. (re: Robert Silverberg)

ERNIE The Robot Pharmacist - More Accurate Than Humans
A robot pharmacist named ERNIE dispenses more than 90 percent of Evergreen Hospital Medical Center's drugs. ERNIE has packaged nearly 400,000 doses in the past nine months and works twenty-four hours per day. (re: Larry Niven)

Hit Song Science (HSS): Finetune Your Tracks
A computer program called Hit Song Science (HSS) from Polyphonic HMI, is being used to predict success or failure for music. And it is being used by musicians around the world to "finetune" the music to which every one of us listens. (re: William Gibson)

Technovelgy Top Stories For 2004
This past year, Technovelgy reported on hundreds of stories about real-life events that were presaged by science fiction stories. The following ten stories showed the most remarkable correspondence between sf and reality in 2004. (re: Various)

Electrical Barrier To Keep Asian Carp Out Of Great Lakes
A permanent electrical barrier will go into use in February to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp that are moving up the Mississippi river. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Niven's 'Black Power' Now Available In Infrared
A team lead by University of Toronto scientist Ted Sargent has created a sprayable plastic composite that could harvest as much as thirty percent of the solar power that strikes a surface. (re: Larry Niven)

The Loneliest Whale and Ray Bradbury
In 1989, a very unusual set of whale calls were noticed in the North Pacific basin; the calls have been consistently recorded since 1992. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Gated Communities Flourish - Offline and Online
Gated communities are gaining popularity - online and off. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Robots and Emotion: Tetchy the Turtle Meets HAL-9000
In 2001: A Space Odyssey and in I, Robot, robots had the ability to understand human emotion. Affective Media, based in Scotland, is working on it now. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Man vs. Machine: Surviving Compaction In A Garbage Truck
In a classic story of man versus machine that took place right in my own home town, a homeless man in Ann Arbor, Michigan survived compaction in a garbage truck. (re: George Lucas)

Encyclopedia Googleactica - Google To Put All Human Knowledge Online
Google to put ten million books online; thank goodness for google. Of course, we're still waiting for Google Audio (TM) and Google Video (TM)... (re: Robert Heinlein)