 |
Imagine The Future Of The Space Elevator
Here's your chance to help science meet fiction. The 2005 Clarke-Bradbury International Science Fiction competition has just been announced by the European Space Agency's Technology Transfer and Promotion office. Organized by by the Swiss Maison d'Ailleurs (House of Elsewhere) and the OURS Foundation, the intent of the competition is to promote innovative ideas for future space technologies and to encourage young people’s interest in science and technology.
This year, a specific theme has been selected - the space elevator. Writers and artists of all ages are invited to submit a short story of no more than 2500 words, a piece of artwork, or both, describing or depicting a space elevator and its technology.
(From Looking down at Earth)
A space elevator is an actual physical connection between a point on a planetary surface (like the Earth) to a geostationary point up in orbit (in the case of the Earth, about 36,000 kilometers up). The scientific thinking about the idea of a space elevator started with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895 (fanciful thinking probably started with Jack and the Beanstalk around 1820!) Arthur C. Clarke wrote what is perhaps the best known (and one of the earliest) stories about the idea of a space elevator in his 1979 book The Fountains of Paradise.
This competition is open to space and science fiction enthusiasts from all nations. The entries, which must be in English, will be judged by an international jury and assessed using the following criteria:
- technology: convincing use
- imagination: innovative ideas and the ability to think ‘outside the box’
- structure: development of storyline, plot, characters skill: clarity of expression, style, degree of realism
- visualisation: convincing depiction of the space elevator
Anyone interested in giving the competition a try can find out more on the ESA website.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/14/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Space Tech ")
Elon Musk Tweets Versions Of Clarke's Operation Cleanup
'Fortunately, the old orbital forts were superbly equipped for this task.' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1978.
Espresso Telescope Searches For Exoplanets
'These instruments were the wonderful ones our astronomers had perfected.' - Edmond Hamilton, 1936.
Manned Maneuvering Unit From 1984
'The glittering little rocket bolted to the black iron behind him.' - Jack Williamson, 1933.
Astronaut Gets Younger In Space
'So what we're looking for now is not an antibiotic - an anti-life drug - but an anti-agathic, an anti-death drug...' - James Blish, 1957.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Current News
Swarm Of Mindless Robots Works Together
'Very tiny pseudo insects that... can unite to form a superordinate system.'
SpotMini Robot Dog, Autonomous And On Sale In 2019
Great, an autonomous slamhound. It is cute, though.
RoboFly Is Laser-Powered, Adorable
Don't swat this fly!
MSG Sphere Las Vegas, ala Star Wars
'The smoky globe, hung in the vault, was shot with colored light...'
Tetraplegics Dominate Avatar Races
Well, just speaking brain-to-computer...
MIT Ampli Blocks Build Biomedical Devices
Damn it Spock, I'm a doctor not an engineer!
UberAIR Asks For Skytaxi Landing Prototypes
You know you want to ride in one.
Boring Tunnel Almost Ready
Your underground future is calling!
Handheld Human Skin Printer
It outputs a thin wad of uniflesh.
Healthy Fast Food Courtesy Of Robot Chefs
'The electric cook was stirring empty nothing in a pan, with a zeal worthy a dozen eggs.'
Mass Production Of In Vitro Meat From One Sample
They're Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing
Amazing 'Hybrid' Solar-Powered Sea Slug Does Photosynthesis
Thank goodness for Star Trek.
Retinal Prosthesis Uses Organic Printing Inks
We can rebuild you - well, your eyes, maybe.
Should You Submit Your DNA To A Database?
Consumer DNA services are often inaccurate.
Squid-Like Robots Soon To Be 3D Printable
'It was a chemotactic artificial jellyfish designed to slither...'
Humans Evolve Deep Diving Abilities
Sounds like '60s sci-fi to me.
