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)

ROKVISS Telepresence Robot Heading To Space Station
The ROKVISS robot will leave Earth aboard the Progress M-51 spaceship on December 24th. Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and astronaut Leroy Chiao will install the German robot on the outside of the International Space Station. (re: Niven/Pournelle)

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. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Superconducting Magnetic Bubble To Protect Astronauts From Radiation
Astronauts on long voyages through the solar system will be exposed to lethal doses of radiation from cosmic rays. Former astronaut Jeffery Hoffman has recieved funding from NASA through NIAC (NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts) to research the ide (re: Larry Niven)

Nomad Virtual-Cockpit Helmet-Mounted Display
Commanders in the field need better situational awareness; Microvision has created the Nomad Virtual-Cockpit Helmet-Mounted Display. (re: David Drake)

Delta IV Heavy Lifter - Space Freighters In Fact And In Fiction
The twenty-three story Delta IV Heavy rocket vehicle will go aloft sometime this week (if the weather holds). (re: Robert Heinlein)

Solar Ultrasound - Bass Note In Music Of The Spheres
Ancient cosmologiests talked about the music of the spheres. Turns out that astrophyicists have found that the Sun is putting out a constant beat - the solar ultrasound. (re: Various)

Burj Tower In Dubai To Be World's Tallest Building
What is the tallest building in the world? Right now, it is the TFC 101 building in Taiwan - 509 meters tall. Not for long, though; Emaar Properties has awarded a contract to Samsung for $847 million to build the Burj Tower. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Universal Whistling Machine - The Future Of Non-Verbal Communications
Canadian artists Marc Bohlen and J.T. Rinker want to change the way that you interact with your favorite electronic devices. Tired of tiny keyboards, poor speech recognition or incomprehensible interfaces? (re: George Lucas)

Robotic Fish From China
A robotic fish designed for underwater archaeology, mapping, water cultivation and even fishing has been co-developed by the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. (re: Michael Swanwick)

Skeletar And Dragon Lyre ExoticGuitars - Science Fiction Instruments
Luthier Peter McGilton has used his Masters Degree in Fine Arts, and post graduate studies in classical instrument construction, to take the guitar-maker's art to truly science-fictional levels. Jack Vance would love this guy. (re: Jack Vance)

Union Of Driver And Vehicle (and Astronaut And Spacecraft?)
Toyota has announced a concept vehicle that is seeks the union of car and driver. How about the union of astronaut and spacecraft? (re: Samuel R. Delany)

Crime-Fighting Computer - The Game's Afoot 24x7
Computer scientists in Chicago have created the Classification System for Serial Criminal Patterns (CSSCP), a computer system that uses pattern-recognition software to sift through case records to find the link (and the perpetrator) connecting differ (re: Harry Harrison)

Ornithopters In Fact And Fiction
An ornithopter (a flapping wing aircraft) under development at the University of Toronto's Institute for Aerospace Studies may yet make Leonardo da Vinci's dream a reality. Frank Herbert fully visualized them in Dune. (re: Frank Herbert)

Robotic Tomato Harvester Ready For Space
Astronauts on space missions are busy - too busy to tend the hydroponic gardens that will keep them alive on long trips to distant worlds, or on the surface of the Moon or Mars. So, NASA has developed a robotic tomato harvester to pitch in and bring (re: Gregory Benford)

Collapsing The Wave: An Interview with J. Frederick Arment
I really liked J. Frederick Arment's Backbeat - A Novel of Physics. This is a novel that demonstrates real writing power; the characters are touching and memorable. He makes the ideas behind quantum mechanics come alive in a fascinating story about r (re: J. Frederick Arment)

Planetary Parks Proposed For Mars Conservation
A set of seven 'planetary parks' have been proposed for the conservation of the martian environment by two European scientists. (re: Alfred Bester)

First Methuselah Mouse Rejuvenation 'M Prize' Awarded
The first Methuselah Foundation Rejuvenation 'M Prize" for Reversing Aging in Middle-Aged Mice Using Techniques Applicable to Human Beings has been awarded to Dr. Stephen Spindler, who lead an experiment to make mice biologically younger while extend (re: Robert Heinlein)

Imperial Probe Droid And NFL Robotic Skycam - Separated At Birth?
Maybe I've had too much turkey and science fiction, but I was watching the Detroit Lions play yesterday, and I suddenly thought that the Skycam system, created by CF InFlight, bore a remarkable resemblance to the Star Wars Imperial Probe Droid. (re: George Lucas)

Genesis Inflatable Space Module Gets Go-Ahead
Bigelow Aerospace has been given payload approval for its Genesis inflatable space habitat by FAA-AST. Genesis weighs in at 1,360 kilograms and is approximately 4.6 meters in length by 1.9 meters in diameter; this is a one-third scale model. (re: Larry Niven)

Holo-Dek - A Unique Real-World Virtual Venue
The Holo-Dek center in Hampton, New Hampshire, may not quite have the same features as the holodeck from Star Trek - but when you see your favorite computer games unfold at human scale, you might just buy into their business. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Self-Cleaning Fabric - Polymer Film Sprinkled With Silver Nanoparticles
Researchers at Clemson University are trying to make your clothes cleaner - permanently. The secret is a polymer film of polyglycicidyl methacrylate sprinkled with silver nanoparticles. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Pioneer Space Probes Unexpectedly Slow Down In Deep Space
once Pioneer 10 and 11 passed beyond the orbit of Uranus, the radio signals sent back by the aging craft have been shifted to progressively shorter wavelengths. This implies that they are decelerating slightly; no one knows why this is happening. (re: Poul Anderson)

Carbon Nanofiber Makes Smart Yarn
Carbon nanofiber can now be spun like yarn to make an amazing variety of new inventions possible. (re: Neal Stephenson)

RoboCoaster G2 - Extreme Robot Roller Coaster
RoboCoaster G2, the next generation of rollercoaster ride, was demonstrated in Orlando on Friday. It's an industrial grade robot and it moves on a configurable track. (re: Various)

iBand Exchanges Data With Handshake But Lacks Hand Jive Recognition
As the makers of the new iBand remark, initial meetings and introductions build relationships, but only if you can remember whom you shook hands with. That's why the iBand gathers and processes information automatically when it registers a handshake (re: Neal Stephenson)

SMART-1's Ion Drive Not Science Fiction
SMART-1 has made it all the way to the Moon using an ion drive. (re: Jack Williamson)

Geo-View ECG-Shirt - So Close To A Heartshirt
Geo-View has created a new shirt for sports enthusiasts (and others) called the ECG-Shirt. It has incorporated high-tech foil containing sensors that measure heart rate, yielding an electrocardiogram. (re: Rudy Rucker)

Terminator Tether - EDT Solution To Space Debris Update
Studies have shown that low Earth orbit is not a limitless resource and should be managed more carefully. Some sort of debris-mitigation measures are needed to solve the problem of old, unusable satellites and space junk. (re: Various)

White Box Robotics 'Apache' - More Punch Than R2D2
New concept robot from White Box Robotics - the Apache is just the thing to guard the presents under your tree this year. (re: George Lucas)

Beer Drinking Elephants Wish For Draco Tavern
Wild elephants shouldn't trample villagers to get at rice beer - they should try the Draco Tavern. (re: Larry Niven)

Afroditikrassa World View LED Cluster Lamp
Industrial design consultants Afroditikrassa have created a virutally weightless lighting fixture called 'world view.' It's pretty close to Frank Herbert's suspensor lamp from Dune. (re: Frank Herbert)

Bluetooth Star Trek Communicator On eBay (Again!)
I couldn't resist checking out yet another working Star Trek communicator for sale on Ebay. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Interactive Face For Big Brother
Tired of stiff, unmoving, iconic images of Big Brother? Take a look at Jeremiah, a virtual face that interacts with the people around him. (re: L. Frank Baum)

Cosmos 1 Sets Solar Sail - Update
Cosmos 1, the world's first solar sail spacecraft, is scheduled to be launched on March 1, 2005 - Car Sagan's birthday. The mission of the flight is to perform the first controlled solar sail flight. (re: Jules Verne)

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)

Non-Conductive Tethers - Free Artificial Gravity In Orbit
Tethers connecting satellites or space stations have some interesting effects even if they are not conductive - a non-conductive tether made of a very strong, light material like Kevlar can be used to connect two objects in orbit, one farther away fr (re: David Brin)

WiFi Hog - Early Xmas For Nihilistic Technofetishists
Do you long to stake your claim to the wireless wide open spaces? Here's the tool for the bandwidth hog (cybersquatter?) in all of us. (re: William Gibson)

10x10 News Interface Cooler Than Google's By Factor Of 10
I love Google, but 10x10 is a Flash-based news interface created by Jonathan Harris that presents a grid of pictures in the news. (re: Various)

Spray: First Underwater Autonomous Vehicle To Cross Gulf Stream
A small self-propelled ocean glider named Spray is the first underwater autonomous vehicle (UAV) to cross the Gulf Stream underwater. (re: Irwin Allen)

Electrodynamic Tethers: Clean Up Debris - Power or Boost Spacecraft
An electrodynamic tether (EDT) is a simple idea, but one with an amazing number of uses. You can power your ship, speed up or slow down. (re: David Brin)

Solar-Powered Interplanetary Shock Tracked To Saturn
In a dramatic proof that solar coronal mass ejection (CME) events affect even the outermost portions of the Solar System, scientists have traced an interplanetary shock from the Sun to Earth to Jupiter to Saturn. (re: Roger Zelazny)

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)

Stealth Now Old Hat - USAF Looks Into Teleportation
Lest you think that our friends at DARPA are the only ones interested in science-fictional possibilities, the USAF recently took delivery on a new study regarding the military potential of teleportation. (re: Frank Herbert)

AlertBox Wireless Device Warns The Neighbors
A wireless device called an AlertBox is going on sale in the United Kingdom this week; it allows neighbors to warn each other about "dodgy characters" on their street. (re: Jack Vance)

Virtual Retinal Displays Get All Geordi With It
Scientists have been hard at work; the Human Interface Technology Laboratory is continuing work on virtual retinal displays - and building in a very Star Trek look while they're at it. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Slow Light Will Speed Communications
Physicists at the NIST believe that a new class of light soliton may help speed up communications networks. (re: L. Sprague de Camp)

White Box Robotics 912 - Hackable Home Robot
The White Box Robotics 912 is a rugged, all-purpose, hack-it-yourself robot - just like R2D2. (re: George Lucas)

Chips In Your Head - Artificial Brain Prosthesis Under Development
In the spirit of works by William Gibson, a silicon chip implant that mimics the hippocampus is under development. (re: William Gibson)

Leaked USAF Report Targets European GPS Satellites
A leaked report indicates that the US will attack and destroy the European Union's Galileo positioning satellites in time of war, if necessary. (re: John Brunner)

Hey Epsilons! Brave New World Getting Closer
Researchers have found they can make monkeys work their hardest and fastest all the time by manipulating a specific gene so they forgot about rewards. No complaints or slacking off. You have that gene, too. (re: Aldous Huxley)

Rat Neurons In A Dish Now Playing Flight Simulator
In his 1999 sf novel, Peter Watts wrote about cultured neurons that could fly planes. Now, a University of Florida researcher makes it a reality. Almost. (re: Peter Watts)

Nap-Cap - How About A Hat-Tip For Larry Niven?
Maybe it just uses the name, but Heads Up(TM)'s Nap-Cap should at least mention Larry Niven, who thought of it. (re: Larry Niven)

Graphene - Nanofabric One Atom Thick
A nanofabric called graphene just one atom thick has been created at The University of Manchester. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Using Bad Movies To Teach Good Science
Science News has a good article on how bad science movies are being used by good science educators. (re: Various)

Future Face - The Principal Eigenface?
Will the widespread use of digital enhancement to "improve" faces in photographs suggest the kind of face that people will have in the future? (re: William Gibson)

Minority Report-Style 'Discovery Informatics' At Purdue University
Purdue University researchers are developing a Minority Report-style environment with high-performance computers and artificial intelligence software. The new 'data CAVE' takes a new approach to data-mining. (re: Stephen Spielberg)

Alter Ego Exhibit - Avatars Revealed
Earlier this month, an exhibition of avatars and their real-life counterparts opened in London. Is there a relationship between the visage of the avatar and the form of the real person? (re: Neal Stephenson)

RocketScore Tells You Your SAT Essay Score
You now have an online teacher and evaluator - RocketScore, the artificially intelligent grader that provides a prediction of the score your essay will get on the SAT. (re: James Blish)

Electronic Underwear Monitors Your Heart
Philips Research in Germany announced on Friday that they have developed underwear that monitors your heart. The underwear can also dial 911 for you. (re: Rudy Rucker)

MagBeam Propulsion - To Mars And Back In 90 Days
Magnetized-beam plasma propulsion, or magbeam propulsion, could cut the time required for long journeys around the solar system from years to weeks. (re: Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle)

Northwestern Researchers Can Remember It For You Wholesale
Researchers are working on making Rekal, Inc. a reality - false memory research is progressing. (re: Philip K. Dick)

BrainGate - Earth Scientists Begin To Crack Krell Secrets
BrainGate, a tiny sensor array implanted in the brain, has allowed a quadriplegic man to check e-mail and play computer games. (re: Irving Block)

Dragon Runner Robot Always Lands On Its Feet
Enough about dog-like robots - the more feline Dragon Runner always lands on its feet. (re: Ray Bradbury)

The Future Of Time Was Written In The Past
Timex should have consulted science fiction writers before running their 150 year anniversary timepiece of the future contest. (re: Larry Niven)

NEEMO 7 - NASA Undersea Robotic Telemedicine Experiment
The Zeus robotic surgical system will be used in an unusual experiment to give NASA additional options. (re: Peter Watts)

MEMSwear Fall Fashion - Bluetooth-enabled Motion Detection Shirt
Fallen and you can't get up? This shirt has already called for help. (re: Rudy Rucker)

Is Your Candidate Human?
In San Francisco they've been testing candidates for mayor with the Voight-Kampff empathy test from Bladerunner. I think they detected a politician... (re: Philip K. Dick)

RFID To Fight Entropy In The Home
Fortunately, minute RFID tags attached to everything you own will be used by household robots to identify a place for everything and put everything in its place. (re: Jetsons)

Amateur Innovators - This Is Your Century!
the 21st century could mark the return of the talented (and obsessed!) amateur to the first ranks of science. This is a fantastically useful and interesting observation; this observation could be as important as the ideas in The Structure of Scientif (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

SpaceShipOne - The First Strato-Yacht?
Is SpaceShipOne a modern incarnation of a Joy-boat Junior, from Methuselah's Children? (re: Robert Heinlein)

Flag Of The Solar System Created
Students and scientists at the Long Future Research Group at the Technical University of Budapest, Hungary, set themselves the task of creating a flag for the solar system. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Boudreaux - Extra Vehicular Activity Robotic Assistant
It seems that mankind has always sought the companionship of a faithful canine, particularly when venturing into unexplored lands. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Motosk8 - Next Best Thing To Tele-Motor-Coasters
Motosk8 is a very special kind of personal transportation, designed by extreme sports enthusiast Tim Gendle. (re: Hugo Gernsback)

Animaris Rhinoceros Transport
The Animaris Rhinoceros Transport is - well, I don't know what it is. It stands about 4.7 meters tall, and is constructed with a steel skeleton covered with a polyester skin. (re: George Lucas)

Dogs Sniff For Cancer
Dogs can detect cancer through their sense of smell, according to a study published last weekend in the British medical journal BMJ. (re: John Brunner)

The Smart Construction Site Of The Future
The future construction site detailed in Bruce Sterling's Distraction is closer than you think. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Spaceflight Club For Space Enthusiasts
The Spaceflight Club has been organized by Space Adventures, a private space experiences company. The club will make sure members get the tools, experience and training they need to be ready for commercial space travel. (re: Jules Verne)

Biomimetic Robot Animals - Not All Are Cute
Sure, they've got robot lobsters, elephant trunks and even big dogs. But what about robotic lamprey parasites? (re: Philip K. Dick)

SubjuGator: Flying Sub From Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea
The SubjuGator is an autonomous underwater vehicle based on the design of the Flying Sub (re: Irwin Allen)

Cream Encourages Your Immune System
A cream that encourages the body's immune system to destroy cancer cells has been released for general use in Australia. (re: David Brin)

Hydraulic Robo-Slab
Made from Brotonium a practically indestructible space metal, the Brotron Robo-Slab comes equip with; a seven ton magnetic field restraint, a 50THz decontamination lamp, a variable 6000 rpm bone saw, TIG welding arm. and a push button remote for tilt (re: Larry Niven)

Smart Tag Art In London
This site showcases hundreds of examples of tag art - they're too cool to scrape off. (re: William Gibson)

Robot Crab: Crustacean Clockwork Automata
This robot crab is more clockwork than automata, but be sure to see the cool and menacing video. (re: William Gibson)

Mattress Alarm Perfect For Sleepy Students
Who needs jarring alarms? Try rising (literally) each morning with the mattress alarm. (re: Larry Niven)

Cockroach-Controlled Mobile Robot
Garnet Hertz has created a cockroach-controlled mobile robot. A hybrid biorobotic system, the robot consists of a mechanical system that amplifies and translates the bodily movements of a live giant hissing Madagascar cockroach. (re: Vernor Vinge)

Computer Key Rings
Marché Noir's Computer Key Rings are spring mounted to accurately reproduce the action on your favorite key - so you can hit it whenever you need to reboot your cool. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Secom Robot X Security Guard Works For Less
The Secom Robot X security guard, which can be controlled remotely or pre-programmed, will not be sold to customers; it will replace human security guards for half the cost. (re: Philip K. Dick)

SpaceHouse: Jetson's Skypad Apartment
SpaceHouse, an ESA-designed structure designed for space is being examined for use here on earth. The German Antarctic station Neumayer-III must meet stringent laws intended to protect the Antarctic environment. (re: Hanna-Barbera)

CirculaFloor - Smart Tile Holodeck?
The CirculaFloor is a computer interface; it consists of a set of movable floor tiles. As the user walks in a chosen direction, the floor tile maintains the position. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Aluminate Glass: Did Scientists Create Transparent Aluminum?
Scientists at 3M in Minnesota have alloyed aluminum oxide with rare-earth metal oxides to create a strong glass with good optical qualities - it really is transparent alumninum. (re: N. Meyer/H. Bennett)

Solar Sails Unfurled Over Japan
Two different solar sail designes were unfurled from a small rocket launched from Kagoshima, Japan on August 9th. (re: Jack Vance)

uFR-II Micro Flying Robot - (Lighter) Son of Micro Flying Robot
Micro flying robot enthusiasts rejoice! Now you can revel in the (lighter) son of the uFR Micro Flying Robot - uFR-II. (re: Neal Stephenson)

VeriChip RFID Tag Patient Implant Badges Now FDA Approved
The Federal Drug Administration has approved a final review process to determine whether hospitals can use VeriChip RFID tags to identify patients. The estimated life of the tags is twenty years. (re: Alfred Bester)

Fatal Vision Goggles - Simulate Impaired Driving
Fatal Vision Simulator Goggles are designed to help you see poorly. They simulate the experience of driving while under the influence. (re: Rudy Rucker)

RFID-Maki: Easy Payment Sushi
In Japan, eating and automation go together like, well, like raw fish and rice. (re: Harry Harrison)

Polymeric Nitrogen: Science Fiction Explosive
Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have synthesised a polymeric cubic form of nitrogen where all atoms are connected with single covalent bonds, similar to carbon atoms in diamond, creating what may be the most powerful explosive e (re: E.E. )

Electronic Number Plate RFID Keeps Tabs On Vehicles
A South African company now offers Electronic Number Plate RFID technology to keep track of your comings and goings in your car. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Sky Ear Works!
Sky Ear, a thousand sensitive helium balloons, finally took flight last month after a slight delay due to bad weather and other problems. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Kaori Web: Odorophonics Comes To A PC Near You
Kaori web creates odorophonics - a science fiction idea of the fifties. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Can Computer Tapeworms And Viruses Be Your Friends
Computer tapeworms and viruses are feared by computer users today. But the creator of the term "computer virus" conceived of them as being helpful (as well as potentially harmful). (re: John Brunner)

PC Case Mod Contest: Sandbenda Contenda
The ExtemeTech extreme case mod contest heats up - see the dragon. (re: William Gibson)

Adaptive Cruise Control
Adaptive cruise control implemented in just one out of five cars could significantly improve highway safety and reduce traffic jams, according to a recent study by a University of Michigan physicist. (re: Robert Heinlein)

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)

MP3 Player Jacket Has Control Sleeves
A jacket with a built-in MP3 player is available from Rosner GmbH & Co., a German clothing firm. The 128 Mbyte player (developed by Infineon) is controlled by manipulating cloth buttons on the left sleeve. Headphones? They're in the collar. (re: Larry Niven and Steve Barnes)

GRACE Robot Specializes In Etiquette And Protocol
GRACE is a robot created by researchers from Carnegie Mellon, the Naval Research Lab, Swarthmore College and others to enter the AAAI Robot Challenge. (re: George Lucas)

Interactive Billboards Use SMS
Interactive billboards designed by Ogilvy use SMS to give passers-by a chance to win a Ford Fiesta in Belgium. SF writers have long predicted the use of intrusive advertisements in our everyday environment. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Thump Eyewear: What About Video?
Thump, the first performance eyewear with internally integrated MP3 storage and playback capabilities will be available this fall. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Metronap Sleep Pod
The MetroNap Pod inclines forward to allow for easy entry, and then reclines to allow for optimal positioning. The slight elevation of the feet promotes blood circulation, while the elevation of the knees takes pressure off your lower back. (re: Larry Niven)

Combat Feeding: Just Add Water - Any Water
Soldiers in the field carry their own food; one day's supply weighs about 3.5 kilograms. However, remove the water, and it only weighs 0.4 kg. But where can you find potable water in the field? (re: Neal Stephenson)

Data Mining In Three Dimensions
Graphical representation of information is not new; the first graphs appeared in the late eighteenth century. More recently, Sandia National Laboratories has created a data mining and visualization software suite that is able to accept information fr (re: William Gibson)

Calendar Ring
I always liked the finger watch; now you can get a calendar ring. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Automatic Blood Donation Machine
A recent advance to help reduce the cost of transfusions in Japan is the automatic blood donation machine. (re: John Varley)

Processing Three-Dimensional Video In Real Time
You may have seen the Matrix-like replays during the last Super Bowl, in which the sportscasters could freeze the image, rotate it to another viewpoint, and then continue with the action. Wouldn't it be great if we, the viewers, could use this featur (re: Robert Heinlein)

Printing RFID Tags With Magic Ink
Security technology like RFID devices, barcodes and smart cards are going to be smaller, more flexible and easier to manufacture responsibly thanks to a metal printing technology developed by QinetiQ Metal Printing. (re: Larry Niven/Steven Barnes)

AgBots: Agricultural Robots Take The Field
In one memorable scene from the original Star Wars movie, Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen is bargaining for agricultural robots with Jawas. Agriculture has been slow to adopt to robotic technology; however, some new developments are on the horizon. (re: William Gibson)

Soft Robot Powered By Shape Memory Alloy Spokes
A remarkable new kind of robotic locomotion has emerged in the form of small "robots" that are constructed in the shape of a wheel. The spokes are made of a shape memory alloy; the rim of the wheel is made of an elastic polymer. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Robots Get Pressure-Sensitive Skin
Organic field-effect transistors have been used to fabricate pressure-sensitive skin for robots, according to an abstract published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Calling All Sandbenders - PC Case Mod Contest!
Liked the idea of sandbenders from William Gibson novels? Check out the extreme case modification contest. (re: William Gibson)

DNA Authenticators: Anti-Counterfeiting Proposed by Philip K. Dick
A security measure proposed by Philip K. Dick in 1964 is now being used to use DNA technology to authenticate consumer products. (re: Philip K. Dick)

StreetNet: Brussels Provides Free WiFi At Internet Kiosks
The Brussels city government established five open-air Internet kiosks that provide wifi-enabled web surfing for all citizens and visitors. The weatherproof kiosks have a touchscreen for those without a laptop or PDA. (re: John Brunner)

Deterministic Quantum-State Teleportation Achieved With High Fidelity
Teleportation, the transfer of quantum states between widely separated atoms, was achieved by different research teams in Austria and the United States. (re: Clifford Simak)

Biometric HandReader - Frank Herbert's Palm Lock?
IR Recognition Systems has released a biometric hand reader that is able to simultaneously analyze more than 31,000 points. The system records 90 different measurements of your hand: length, width, thickness and surface area. (re: Frank Herbert)

Electric Sheep Distributed Screen-Saver: Collective Computer Unconsious
The Electric Sheep Distributed Screen-Saver taps into the collective unconscious of sleeping computers all over the world. When your computer sleeps, does it dream of electric sheep? (re: Philip K. Dick)

EEGLAB: Independent Component Analysis Reads Your Thoughts
EEGLAB processes continuous and event-related EEG (electroencephalogram) data, allowing researchers to closely correlate specific brain activity with specific cognitive events - reading your individual thoughts. (re: John Brunner)

Springtail EFV-4B Personal Air Vehicle From Trek Aerospace
The Springtail EFV-4B Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) is a fourth-generation vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) craft powered by a single engine. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Sleep Room - Better Rest From A To Zzz
Japan is the land of the rising sun - a sun that rises all too soon for weary commuters and hard-working students who burn the midnight oil. The Matsushita Electric Works Sleep Room may be the answer - sort of like Larry Niven's Napcap Rental Facilit (re: Larry Niven)

SpineAssist Robot Has Got Your Back
The SpineAssist robot attaches directly to the spine during operations. It has Food and Drug Administration approval to assist surgeons in the precise placement of tools and implants. (re: Frank Herbert)

Personal Satellite Assistant: Servant Of Astronauts And Jedi
NASA has been working on the Personal Satellite Assistant for years. With any luck, it should be ready for use soon. (re: George Lucas)

MTHEL - Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser
The Mobile Tactical High Energy Laser (MTHEL) successfully tracked and destroyed a large-caliber test rocket at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. (re: George Griffith)

Pilkington Activ Glass - The Invisible Squeegee Of Window-Willie
Pilkington Activ glass has a coating of microcrystalline titanium oxide that acts as an "invisible squeegee" to allow the surface to clean itself. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Picture This: Cell Repair By Medical Nanorobots
Svidinenko Yuriy's renderings of medical nanorobots give Fantastic Voyage an update. (re: Isaac Asimov)

Movie Moguls Put Toe In Delphi Pool
Movie studio executives have found a new way to predict how well a particular movie will fare. The method was originally proposed by John Brunner in 1976. (re: John Brunner)

IP Cameras - Larry Niven's Webeye?
IP cameras are providing a real short-cut for the surveillance-minded. Just position and click. (re: Larry Niven)

VeriTouch iVue: Fun, Fashionable Media Player With Military-Grade Encryption
Finally, someone has announced the features that all of us consumers have been looking for in a digital media player - military-grade encryption and biometric security. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Accenture Gets US VISIT Biometric Security Contract
A group led by Accenture has won the five year US Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US VISIT) biometric security contract. (re: George Orwell)

Micromouse Robot Builders Seek The Brass Cheese
The UK Micromouse 2004 Championship will be held on June 19th; tiny autonomouse (sorry about that) robot mice race to solve a 16x16 maze. (re: Greg Bear)

Electrolux Trilobite: Programmable Robot Vacuum Cleaner
The Trilobyte 2.0 is the new version of their self-propelled robot vacuum cleaner. It has more going for it than it's metallic silvery-green color - you can program it. (re: William Gibson)

Crystal Palm Flower: Logan's Run Life Clock on Ebay
A palm flower from the movie Logan's Run (from the novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson) is available for purchase on Ebay. (re: William F. Nolan)

Genesis Pathfinder: Space Inflatable Module
Genesis Pathfinder is an inflatable space habitat scheduled to launch in November 2005. Genesis weighs in at 1,360 kilograms and is approximately 4.6 meters in length by 1.9 meters in diameter; this is a one-third scale model. (re: Larry Niven)

Robonaut Performs Hubble Space Telescope Repair Tasks
Robonaut is a dexterous humanoid telepresence robot developed by NASA. The intent of the project is to have an "EVA astronaut equivalent" on station in space. (re: Robert Heinlein)

NASA's New Radiation Shielding First Proposed By John W. Campbell In 1936
NASA engineers are working on a clever new idea for shielding astronauts from cosmic rays - using the fuel and water needed for the journey for shielding. Just like John W. Campbell first proposed in 1936. (re: John W. Campbell)

A Smart Home With Cyber Crumbs - Bradbury's Happylife Home?
In his 1951 short story collection The Illustrated Man, Ray Bradbury wrote about the Happylife Home, which took care of the people who lived in it. Today, researchers work to create a smart home with cyber crumbs. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Astrophysicist Estimates Diameter Of The Universe
The diameter of the universe has been estimated by researchers; we're at least 156 billion light-years wide. (re: Larry Niven)

Sprint RFID Loyalty Card Triggers Minority Report-Style Ads
Sprint has developed two RFID applications based on customer loyalty cards that can identify a customer as he or she walks through a store, triggering the appearance of a customized computer avatar on a nearby screen. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Teleo-Reactive Programs Are Reaching Their Goals
Teleo-Reactive Programs (TRPs) help robots and other machine intelligences achieve goals, not just specific behaviors. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Zombie RFID Tags Arise To Face Privacy Advocates
Zombie RFID tags may find their way into your pockets - causing some privacy advocates to breath a sigh of relief. (re: Neal Stephenson)

MADMEN Robot Swarm To Handle Incoming Asteroids?
SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc. has completed a preliminary study for NASA in planetary defense against asteroid impactors - Modular Asteroid Deflection Mission Ejector Node (MADMEN) robots. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Functional Replica Captain Nemo Diving Suit
Pat Regan has created a fully functional replica of Captain Nemo's diving suit from the Disney movie version of 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea - the Nemosuit. (re: Jules Verne)