Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
'Eye In The Sky' Movie Borrows 35, 80 Year-Old SF
I'm looking forward to seeing the 2015 movie Eye in the Sky, starring Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman and Iain Glen, which has received excellent reviews but only limited release.
Take a look at the following trailer, and pause for a moment at 20 seconds and at 40 seconds to see a couple of science-fictional technologies that were first introduced about thirty-five and eighty years ago, respectively.
(Eye in the Sky movie trailer video)
The first is a UAV flapping-wing bird that was described by Roger Zelazny in his 1980 novel Changeling; he called it the tracer-bird:
The prototype blue-bellied, gray-backed tracer-bird with the wide-angle eye and the parabola ear followed the dragon-riders north. A series of the larger fliers followed it at well-spaced intervals, to serve as relay points for the spy broadcasts...
(Read more about Zelazny's tracer-bird)
Here's a real-life prototype of a flapping-wing UAV developed by AeroEnvironment:
(Robotic hummingbird)
Here's another real-life example, an (ultralight crane:
(Origami crane flying)
The second instance is an 80 year-old idea, from a 1936 issue of Astounding Stories magazine. Raymond Z. Gallun was one of the three most famous authors of the Golden Age of science fiction (or scientifiction); he's fun to read even today.
The Scarab rubbed its hind legs together, as flies will do when at rest. Then, apparently satisfied that it was in condition, it unfolded the coleoptera-like plates over its wings. With a buzz that any uninformed person would have mistaken for that of a beetle, it started out on its journey.
(Read more about the scarab flying insect robot)
I should also point out Philip K Dick's amazing housefly monitor from his 1964 novel Lies, Inc..
Check out some of these links for stories about real-life insect-sized flying robots:
- 'New' Israeli Bionic Hornet Concept Is 70 Years Old
- Jumping Microrobot 'Flea' Is Solar Powered
- Robotic Fly Micro Air Vehicle
- Morphing Micro Air-Land Vehicle: It Flies, It Crawls
- DelFly Micro Smallest Camera Plane
- ExoFly Flapping Planetary Survey Aerobot
- Katana Mono-Wing Rotorcraft Nano Air Vehicle
- Stealthy, Persistent Perch and Stare UAVs
- Robobees To Swarm At Harvard
- Bio-Mechanics And Micro-Robotic Flight
- Perching Project Drones Wait For You
- Insectothopter Robotic Dragonfly CIA Tech From 1970s
- Microcamera Big As Grain Of Salt
- Robobee Learns The Waggle Dance
- BOLT Bipedal Ornithopter Robot
- Israel's Robotic Butterfly Drone Flies Indoors
- Can't Wait For My Robot Dragonfly!
- Black Hornet Nano UAV Used By British Troops
- RoboBee Swarm Replaces Pollinating Insects?
- Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
- Tiniest Microphone Inspired By Fly
- Fast Lightweight Autonomy Indoor Drones For DARPA
I'm still waiting for this movie to come to my town's art theaters, hopefully I'll be able to see Eye in the Sky by early April. This movie also features one of the last performances by Alan Rickman, who died last year.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 3/19/2016)
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 - (" Surveillance ")
Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock
'A palm lock must be keyed to one individual's hand shape and palm lines.' - Frank Herbert, 1965.
Who Needs Dogs? Trained Bees Detect Explosives
'The directing neurological tissue that forms the basis of the swibble is alive...' - Philip K Dick, 1955.
Government In-Home Surveillance - Yes! Say Third Of Under-30 Adults
'The TV screen flicked to show a kitchen.' - Pournelle and Niven, 1981.
New Train Station Offers Minority Report-Style Signs
A whole new world awaits you, John Anderton!
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.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
Moonwalkers AI-Controlled Electric Shoes
Now that's power walking that Hugo Gernsback would have approved.
Steve Jobs: 'Capture The Next Aristotle - With AI'
'It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct...'
No Tips! Robotic Food Delivery In Phoenix
'...he rewired the delivery robot so that it would serve him midnight snacks.'
Electric Catamaran 'Explorer Eco 40m' Has 'Solar Skin'
'On went the electric-yacht faster and still faster.'
Orbital Mechanics, The Liftoff, The Turnover, The Retrograde Burn
'...the huge vessel had spun, with a sickening lurch, through a complete half-circle, the instant the power was reversed.'
Harvest Power From Tears And Blinking With Smart Contact Lens
'...he realized that it was not quite a clear lens. Speckles of colored brightness swirled and gathered in it.'
Europa Clipper Plate Carries A Special Message
'...a universal cryptogram — yet it is one which can be interpreted by any intelligent creature on any planet in the Solar System!'
Micro-Robots Are Smallest, Fully Functional
'With a whir, the Scarab shot from the concealing shadows of the corner where it had hidden itself.'
AI Enhances Images Your Brain Sees
'I could have sworn the psychomat showed pictures almost as sharp and detailed as reality itself'
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.'
Deflector Plasma Screen For Drones ala Star Wars
'If the enemy persists in attacking or even intensifies their power, the density of the plasma in space will suddenly increase, causing it to reflect most of the incoming energy like a mirror.'
DIY Robotic Hand Made After Loss Of Fingers
'I made them... with the fine work of the watchmaker...'
