da Vinci Surgical Robot: Dr.'s Helper
A 2004 University of Michigan study noted that patients who were operated on with robotic surgeon assistance recovered more quickly with fewer or less obtrusive scars using a surgical robot. Similar devices are used in telemedicine; read a wry encoun (re: Peter Watts)

Poweriser: Extreme Sports Gear from The Diamond Age
In The Diamond Age, author Neal Stephenson creates a vivid picture of a future Shanghai. The novel mixes "futuristic" devices based on nanotechnology with simpler mechanical devices that are almost Victorian in their simplicity... Imagine my surpri (re: Neal Stephenson)

Contour Crafting: 3D House Printer
Perhaps you've used those programs that let you design your dream house, creating a Computer Aided Design (CAD) file. Not quite ready to take up the hammer and start building? What if you could just "print" your house? (re: Murray Leinster)

RobotCop III - Not Quite R. Daneel Olivaw
In his classic 1953 robot story Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov teamed a human detective with a robotic one - R. Daneel Olivaw. Hong Kong has been testing robotic police officers for years, and has now introduced RobotCop III. (re: Isaac Asimov)

DARPA's BigDog Robot And Bradbury's Mechanical Hound
In his chilling 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury created the mechanical hound, a robot that accompanied the firemen and helped with their work... DARPA has made a multi-million dollar investment in the soldier of the future's best friend - Big (re: Ray Bradbury)

Ghostrider Robot: Sterling's Smart Motorcycle?
The Ghostrider Robot (aka Dexterit), an entrant to the upcoming "Grand Challenge" race sponsored by DARPA, is an autonomous self-balancing robotic motorcycle.< (re: Bruce Sterling)

Chameleon Card: Simmons' Universal Credit Card?
The new Chameleon Card (and associated Pocket Vault) provides a single card that gives access to all of your bank and credit card accounts. (re: Dan Simmons)

BLEEX: Robotic Exoskeleton Making Strides
The Berkeley Lower Extremity Exoskeleton (BLEEX), a DARPA robotics engineering project that is designed to help foot soldiers carry more supplies for longer distances, was demonstrated in California earlier this week. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Philips FluidFocus: Variable Focus Fluid Lens
Philips FluidFocus - a variable-focus lens system with no mechanical moving parts - is very similar to Frank Herbert's oil lens in Dune (1964). (re: Frank Herbert)

Reversible LCD: Two-Sided Electronic Paper
Mitsubishi has a prototype reversible LCD panel; a two-sided liquid crystal display that can show different images on each side. Like two-sided smart paper! (re: Neal Stephenson)

Musclebot: Microrobot with a Heart
A microrobot designed by microengineer Carlos Montemagno walks with the aid of living heart muscle at the University of California, Los Angeles. (re: Jack Vance)

Nerve Cells Grown On Microchip
Nerve cells grown on a microchip have been shown to learn and memorize information, according to researchers from the University of Calgary. (re: Peter Watts)

DARPA Seeks Metabolic Dominance
DARPA has initiated a new program called "Metabolic Dominance" to assure that soldiers have superior physiological qualities. Frank Herbert had the answer sooner, though. (re: Jack Vance)

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)

Feral Robotic Dogs Run in Packs
A pack of cooperative robotic dogs wired at Yale have been put to work sniffing for arsenic, lead and other pollutants in soil around schools and homes. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Robotic Bird Has USAF Flocking
A prototype of a small robotic bird created from carbon fiber composites and Mylar has the U.S. Airforce flocking nearby for a closer look. (re: Greg Bear)