 |
Biology in Science Fiction
(Technovelgy items at top: skip
down to News)
Name |
Author (Publication Date) |
| Ken MacLeod (2003) | |
| Neal Stephenson (2008) | |
| Philip K. Dick (Ace) | |
| Larry Niven (1976) | |
| Paul Black (2003) | |
| Neal Stephenson (2008) | |
| Aldous Huxley (1932) | |
| Robert Heinlein (1951) | |
| Hal Clement (1950) | |
| William Gibson (1981) | |
| Robert Heinlein (1949) | |
| Raymond Z. Gallun (1937) | |
| Joan Slonczewski (1994) | |
| David Brin (1990) | |
| Frank Herbert (1969) | |
| Robert Heinlein (1952) | |
| E.E. 'Doc' Smith (1950) | |
| Neal Stephenson (1995) | |
| Neal Stephenson (2008) | |
| David Brin (1990) | |
| Iain M Banks (2004) | |
| Margaret Atwood (2003) | |
| Lauren Beukes (2008) | |
| Alastair Reynolds (2002) | |
| Greg Bear (2003) | |
| Clifford Simak (1944) | |
| Terry Pratchett (1983) | |
| David Brin (1990) | |
| George O. Smith (1942) | |
| William Gibson (1984) | |
| Jim Smith (1995) | |
| Larry Niven (1968) | |
| John Brunner (1975) | |
| Alfred Bester (1974) | |
| Alan Dean Foster (2006) | |
| William Gibson (1984) | |
| Larry Niven (1967) | |
| Margaret Atwood (2003) | |
| Michael Crichton (1969) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1956) | |
| H. Beam Piper (1948) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1953) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1954) | |
| Frank Herbert (1972) | |
| Gregory Benford (1983) | |
| William Gibson (1988) | |
| Jack Vance (1954) | |
| Roger Zelazny (1976) | |
| Bruce Sterling (1985) | |
| Greg Bear (2003) | |
| Philip K. Dick (1955) | |
| Rudy Rucker (1988) | |
| John Varley (1983) |
Related Science Fiction in the News
Paralysis Ray Uses Photocontrolled Molecular Switch On the seventieth anniversary of the phrase 'paralysis ray' appearing in Thrilling Wonder Stories, we are now getting closer to these elusive rays. (re: Arthur K. Barnes, 11/19/2009 ) |
FOXP2 Tweak Yields Planet Of The Apes? The expression of this gene may explain much of the difference between man and chimp when it comes to speech. (re: Various, 11/14/2009 ) |
Smarter Rats Via Transgenic Over-Expression Of NR2B Gene Forget the better mousetrap; how about a smarter rat instead! (re: Daniel Keyes, 11/10/2009 ) |
Red Sydney Photos of the red planet - taken here on Earth. The Marsaforming of Oz. (re: Various, 9/26/2009 ) |
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, 9/26/2009 ) |
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, 9/22/2009 ) |
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, 9/1/2009 ) |
Bioengineered Mouse Tooth Bud Successfully Implanted As far as I know, this is the first successful creation and implantation of a tooth bud 'from scratch' that grows to full size and full tooth functionality. (re: William Gibson, 8/7/2009 ) |
Bears Beat BearVault, Haven't Discovered Fire - Yet Watch out for those shy, middle-aged bears; they're the smart ones. (re: Terry Bisson, 7/25/2009 ) |
Hero Dog From 9/11 Cloned 5X Although not all the clones are exact duplicates, it's a remarkable process. (re: Various, 6/28/2009 ) |
Bowlingual Translates Canine Speech Just in time to be tied into a major motion picture, this upgrade to a classic device now lets your dog speak at last. (re: Murray Leinster, 6/23/2009 ) |
Cyborg Insect Comm System Planned By DARPA Ever listened to the calls of insects in the evening, or in a meadow on a summer day? They might be talking in a special language devised by DARPA. About you. (re: Various, 6/19/2009 ) |
Pooktre Living Garden Chair Why not just grow your furniture? Forget all that tedious sawing and polishing. (re: Jack Vance, 6/17/2009 ) |
U.S. Winds Slowing Down? Sometimes, there's an interesting story in science fiction authors predicting a future - with the opposite result. (re: J.G. Ballard, 6/17/2009 ) |
Bacteria Helpless Slaves To Nanobot Master Watch the video and see swarms of bacteria maneuver a nanobot in a dish; a trick someday to be performed in your own blood stream. (re: Various, 5/19/2009 ) |
Lunar Oasis Greenhouse 2012 That plant will need a space suit to survive on the surface of the moon. And that's what the Lunar Oasis is. With video. (re: Various, 4/29/2009 ) |
Automated Mammalian Training Devices There must be a better way to train animals to do our bidding, reasons DARPA. (re: Frederik Pohl, 4/24/2009 ) |
Bacteria Talk To Each Other On Bassler Video Exceptional talk by molecular biologist Bonnie Bassler details the latest research and thinking about how bacteria work together to help us and harm us. (re: Greg Bear, 4/18/2009 ) |
Giant Sand Worms Once Roamed The Earth Bless the Maker! Distant ancestors of Shai-hulud once roamed our own Earth. May His passage cleanse the world. Dune fans around the world tremble in fear. (re: Frank Herbert, 3/16/2009 ) |
Pharm Animals - Engineered Goat Makes Drugs In Milk Amazing genetically engineered goats are the USDA's first approved 'pharm animals' - or fabricows. (re: David Brin, 2/10/2009 ) |
Doll Fabbed From Living Cells Research brings the fabrication of structures like human organs closer, not to mention android 'blanks.' (re: Gene Roddenberry, 1/23/2009 ) |
'Volume Control' Ear Protein Uncovered Research shows at least part of the mechanism for our ability to protect our ears against extremely loud noises. (re: Larry Niven, 1/22/2009 ) |
Biohackers - Genetic Engineering Home Hobbyists Hobbyists have made important contributions to many fields. Why not genetic engineering? (re: Frank Herbert, 12/26/2008 ) |
Carp Barrier Finished For Years, Never Activated The barrier is ready to repel invaders! But a squabble between agencies will apparently result in a carp invasion AND the waste of $ millions. (re: Roger Zelazny, 12/18/2008 ) |
Spy Moth Cyborg On/Off Switch Perfected Another piece of the fully-controllable insect cyborg spy is now in place. (re: Thomas A. Easton, 12/10/2008 ) |
Living Floor Like Heinlein's Grass Carpet Jeri has found the secret to true relaxation - a living green carpet. Walk on living things? It is a goodness. (re: Robert Heinlein, 12/6/2008 ) |
Nearly Immortal Hydrozoan Colonizes Oceans No one noticed that these creatures have spread around the world. Oh, and they can live practically forever. (re: Various, 12/5/2008 ) |
Mouse Cloned From 16-year Frozen Tissue Remarkable feat by Japanese researchers shows that even damaged frozen tissue can yield viable DNA for cloning. (re: Michael Crichton, 11/5/2008 ) |
Labyrinth Aquarium Has Swimming Tubes A Habitrail for your fishy friends, it's all the rage among the Gowachin. (re: Frank Herbert, 10/29/2008 ) |
Logic Gates Built Inside Living Cells Remarkable development allows logic gates to be placed inside living cells. (re: Greg Bear, 10/19/2008 ) |
Digital Zebrafish Embryo 3D Development Interesting new technique provides remarkable details in the first 24 hours of life - from 1 to 20,000 cells. (re: Joan Slonczewski, 10/16/2008 ) |
Fungus Accelerates Spores At 180K g (Video) Fascinating video shows how tiny living creatures can fire objects at incredible accelerations. (re: Gary Shockley, 10/7/2008 ) |
Evolved Earthworms To Clean Up Toxic Metals Hardy super worms may provide a way to clean up contaminated soil. (re: Larry Niven, 9/16/2008 ) |
Self-Propelled Underwater Fish Cages Prototype testing by an MIT researcher is making me think of vast underwater fish farms under remote control. (re: Various, 9/11/2008 ) |
This Alien Earth Where do you think the most alien environment on Earth can be found? (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 9/7/2008 ) |
Deep Sea Mining Tube Worms I think Larry Niven nailed this one forty years ago; the idea of a mining worm is even older. (re: Larry Niven, 8/29/2008 ) |
Rat Brain Robot Uses Cultured Rat Neurons Another successful implementation of Peter Watts' head cheese idea; amazingly, they have distinct personalities. With video. (re: Peter Watts, 8/15/2008 ) |
Human-Pig Hybrids Approved In UK The correspondence between this research and Reynold's book is a bit ominous; even the timing is right. I'm sure the proper safeguards will be taken. (re: Alastair Reynolds, 7/3/2008 ) |
Foldit - Design Proteins With Online Game Amazing game lets online gamers participate in evolution; can you design a better protein? With video. (re: Various, 6/18/2008 ) |
Sealed Goldfish Chain Would Disturb Titan Colonists This unique novelty item from China has a terrible secret. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 6/13/2008 ) |
Bacteria Eats Plastic; What Could Go Wrong? Clever teen has a great idea - maybe somewhere in nature, the plastic bag problem has already been solved. (re: Michael Crichton, 6/11/2008 ) |
BokitoViewers Prevent Direct Eye Contact This handy conflict-resolution system would almost certainly be helpful in a variety of situations. (re: Various, 6/3/2008 ) |
We All See The Future Like Dick's 'Prethink' Mind-blowing idea about human cognition makes Philip K. Dick's prethink more thinkable. (re: Philip K. Dick, 5/22/2008 ) |
Extinct Tasmanian Tiger DNA Recovered DNA from an extinct species has been successfully recovered, granting some hope that one day it may be possible to recover extinct animal species. (re: Michael Crichton, 5/20/2008 ) |
Smart Buoys Say 'Slow Down, Whale Crossing' Fascinating example of interspecies communication and cooperation. Right here on Earth. (re: Various, 4/29/2008 ) |
Korean Cloned Drug-Sniffing Dogs All seven of these 'RePet' dogs have the same name to make things a bit easier for the humans. Too bad they can't do syncording yet. (re: Wibberly, 4/27/2008 ) |
'Evolution Chip' Automates Evolved Change The so-called 'Darwin chip' demonstrates the factual basis of evolution and may help us solve problems. (re: Theodore Sturgeon, 4/17/2008 ) |
Degu Rodents Now Use Tools Like Little Fuzzy Diligent scientists continue in their efforts to bring civilization to the lower orders; I've added two great examples. (re: H. Beam Piper, 3/27/2008 ) |
Wheat-Killing Fungus Destroys Entire Fields This fungus that has destroyed entire wheat fields on two continents will hopefully not lead to the death of all grasses. (re: John Christopher, 3/16/2008 ) |
Rapid Watch Robot Submarine Armada To Protect Gulf Stream These 'gliders' need to come to the surface now and then; maybe we could put narwhal-like horns on them and defend the homeland. (re: Various, 1/22/2008 ) |
Giant Spider Attacks Space Shuttle, Defeated By Air Force Here's the ending to this story that you didn't see on the news. (re: Various, 12/12/2007 ) |
Bacterial Art - Culture In A Dish It shouldn't surprise us that bacteria can create beautiful patterns while solving problems (just like we sometimes do), but these pictures still surprised me. (re: Greg Bear, 12/9/2007 ) |
Huge Crustacean From 400 Million B.C. Scientists are staggered by the size of this behemoth from 400 million B.C. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 11/21/2007 ) |
Mighty Mice Now With PEPCK-Cmus! These remarkable transgenic mice can run kilometers without stopping. (re: Various, 11/2/2007 ) |
Tadpoles Grow Extra Eye On Command Tadpoles grow a third eye wherever scientists command; spare human eyes (or eye parts) may not be too far away. (re: Ridley Scott, 10/25/2007 ) |
Inscentinel Honeybees Sniff For Explosives This special detector actually contains living honeybees trained to sense explosive compounds. (re: Various, 9/17/2007 ) |
Moray Eels Have Second Jaws Aliens-Style Okay, is this life imitates art or hideous natural evolution beats out Hollywood imagination - again? (re: Ridley Scott, 9/6/2007 ) |
Piranha Movie Now At Stream Near You This is one sf movie that I don't want to see become a real-life story. (re: Roger Corman, 7/5/2007 ) |
Bacteria Torture Tests Demonstrate Evolution Dr. Richard Lenski has followed in the footsteps of famous sf writers, creating captive worlds and learning from them. (re: Theodore Sturgeon, 6/26/2007 ) |
Terminator Seed Ban Proposed In Canada When you buy some seeds, you own all of the plants descended from those seeds, right? Don't be so sure. (re: Jack Vance, 6/5/2007 ) |
Dutch Growing Pork In Lab Researchers at it again, in search of pulled pork not pulled from porkers. (re: H. Beam Piper, 6/3/2007 ) |
Neuron Network Cyborg Has Memory Is this cyborg-like combination of neurons and silicon a new proof of this kind of memory system? (re: Peter Watts, 5/30/2007 ) |
Mice Get Smarter By Losing Cdk5 Enzyme Those mice keep getting smarter - when will these different techniques become available to bloggers? (re: Various, 5/29/2007 ) |
Cheap Pocket-Sized DNA Replicator This tiny, inexpensive device could revolutionize the practice of medicine in developing countries. (re: Various, 5/22/2007 ) |
Bacteria Attacks Oil Like Black Monday Novel New finding increases realism in a new sf/thriller novel by R. Scott Weiss. (re: R. Scott Weiss, 5/10/2007 ) |
Bacteria Save Your Data, Make Multiple Backups Remarkable feat by researchers makes those so-called thumbdrives look monster-sized by comparison. (re: Barbara Hambly, 3/1/2007 ) |
Doomsday Vault Design Now Final My only question, which no one seems to be asking, is 'Why don't the humans get a vault?' (re: , 2/12/2007 ) |
Parasitic Worms Create 'Zombie' Snails I thought Toxoplasma gondii was bad, but these poor snails really get a raw deal. (re: Robert Heinlein, 1/8/2007 ) |
Transgenic Pigs Glow Green Diligent Chinese researchers with one eye on the calendar create three little piggies with a green glow. (re: Margaret Atwood, 12/31/2006 ) |
Chick Embryo Regrows Wing With Wnt Signaling Remarkable achievement from the Salk Institute; eleven years of work have paid off. (re: Frank Herbert, 11/18/2006 ) |
Jardiland Real Radish Races Via Internet Virtualized real-world pets, these radishes are real radicles. (re: Various, 11/18/2006 ) |
First Motor Powered By Living Bacteria Amazing new motor powered by hard-working bacteria. (re: Various, 10/13/2006 ) |
Terranaut - Fish Explore Land With Robotic Vehicle Ah, nothing like going for your first drive. Especially when you're a fish. On land. (re: Various, 9/16/2006 ) |
Silicon-Based Lifeforms: Hortas In The Deeps A prominent iconoclastic scientist argues that silicon-based life may exist. (re: Gene L. Coon, 9/8/2006 ) |
TM9 Turf Mat Grass Roof (And Living Room Carpet?) I think Vonnegut's (and Heinlein's) grass carpets are now just about ready - in easy-to-use carpet tile form. (re: Kurt Vonnegut, 8/26/2006 ) |
Robotany Bonzai Robot Bizarre ambient robot sculpture using shape memory alloy wire. (re: , 7/13/2006 ) |
Tsunami Warning System Working In Asia Humans depended mostly on aliens for help in Clarke's 1953 novel Childhood's End. Other alternatives are now available around the world. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 7/2/2006 ) |
Multi-Hop RFID Tags Track Monkeys Maurading monkeys vandalizing mountain farms? Who can you call? (re: Various, 6/27/2006 ) |
Fungus Devours CDs You thought you had enough to worry about - now there's a fungus that consumes CDs, metal and all. (re: Various, 6/22/2006 ) |
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, 3/15/2006 ) |
E.T. Mouse Hearts Glow Amazing fluorescing mouse embryo hearts fill researcher hearts with that special glow. E.T. too. (re: Steven Spielberg, 3/10/2006 ) |
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, 3/5/2006 ) |
Honey Bees Can Recognize You! Will trained honey bees be the next thing in face recognition and security technology? (re: Frank Herbert, 12/21/2005 ) |
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, 12/6/2005 ) |
Earth Skunk Cabbage And Martian Desert Cabbage Heinlein also wrote about cabbages that could regulate their internal temperature. (re: Robert Heinlein, 11/9/2005 ) |
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, 10/8/2005 ) |
Spider Blood In Amber Brings Jurassic Park Closer Is it possible to get DNA from the blood of this ancient spider. (re: Michael Crichton, 10/8/2005 ) |
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, 9/18/2005 ) |
Jack Into A Cat's Brain In this study, Garett B. Stanley, Fei F. Li and Yang Dan have literally jacked into the mind of a cat. (re: William Gibson, 7/6/2005 ) |
'Pleistocene Park' For Woolly Mammoths? Scientists with the Mammoth Creation Project hope to find a frozen woolly mammoth specimen with sperm DNA. The sperm DNA would then be injected into a female elephant; by repeating the procedure with offspring, a creature 88% mammoth could be produce (re: Michael Crichton, 4/11/2005 ) |
Tumblin' Tumbleweeds Lend Hand In Depleted Uranium Roundup An early study indicates that the humble tumbleweed (the Russian thistle) may be able to help humans round up depleted uranium from contaminated soil (re: Gregory Benford, 11/10/2004 ) |
Marine Worm Has Insectile And Vertebrate 'Eyes' (Update) It turns out that Nature is both creative and generous with her gifts. Recent research has shown that the tiny marine worm Platynereis dumerilii has two types of light-sensing cells. (re: Various, 11/3/2004 ) |
Invisible Animals (If Not Men) The New York Times ran an interesting article this past week on how animals achieve invisibility in the ocean. Transparency can be achieved in different ways. (re: H.G. Wells, 7/27/2004 ) |
Tooth Bud From Stem Cells Looms Large Implanted tooth buds created from stem cells may replace false teeth. This procedure has been shown to work in mice, and may work in humans as well. (re: William Gibson, 5/6/2004 ) |
Cloned Cats Have 9+n Lives Genetic Savings and Clone can fix you up with a clone of your cat for just $50,000. Better hurry; work starts in May (re: Frank Herbert, 5/5/2004 ) |
Escapin: Anti-Bacterial Sea Slug Protein Prevents Biofilm Build-Up Escapin, an anti-bacterial protein found in the ink of sea slugs, could help marine equipment stay clean enough for golden age science fiction. (re: Bruce Sterling, 5/2/2004 ) |
Yoda - The World's Oldest Mouse Update Yoda, the world's oldest mouse, lives at the UM Medical School. Not the best place for a mouse to attain longevity - but Yoda was born into a geriatrics lab. (re: Larry Niven, 4/23/2004 ) |
GloFish First Genetically Modified Pet Update The first genetically modified pet to go on sale in the US is available now, in time for Christmas. The GloFish fluoresces bright red. (re: Frank Herbert, 4/3/2004 ) |
E. Coli Forced To Evolve: Old Bacterium Learns New Trick The general method was remarkably similar to a technique used by award-winning sf author Theodore Sturgeon in his classic 1941 story Microcosmic God. (re: Theodore Sturgeon, 3/17/2004 ) |
Gene Expression of Microbes Changes in Low Gravity Bioreactor The tiniest astronaut? Easy - the trillions of bacteria that accompany every manned space flight. With talk of moon bases and extended space travel back in the news, NASA again focuses on the question of how microorganisms behave in space. (re: Bruce Sterling, 3/1/2004 ) |
Humans Teach Bacteria New Language A group of scientists lead by Professor James C. Liao are engineering an artificial cell-to-cell communication network by teaching bacteria to communicate with each other and to work together in a whole new way. (re: Greg Bear, 2/13/2004 ) |
Categories:
Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Output Devices
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Output Devices
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
