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Science Fiction in the News Articles
Related to material in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
by Philip K. Dick

This marvelous novel has a lot going for it that never made it into the film Blade Runner. There are wonderful scenes and situations that show Dick's artistry in making you doubt just exactly what "human" means. You will sit and ponder for a long time after reading this book.

Science fiction in the News articles describe real-world events that relate to the ideas and inventions in sf novels and movies. Select a news article:

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?

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...

'Electric Sheep' Gaining On Real Pets
   Cute, cuddly robotic pets bring humans some of the same benefits as real pets. Electric sheep, anyone?

EveR2-Muse Robot's Many Faces
   The latest incarnation of the EveR2-Muse entertainment fembot now includes the latest feminine emotions.

Phil Dick, Your Electric Cat Is... Not Quite Ready
   This can may not quite be up to PKD's high standards, but you can see that we're getting close.

Heart Robot Wants To Feel Your Love
   I'm not sure whether or not this robot crosses the uncanny valley, but I think it's part way through creepy valley. Also, Spielberg should get a cut of any royalties.

Portable MRI Scans For Psychopathy Like Voight-Kampff
   As scientists try to understand psychopathy, their use of machines and images seems almost phildickian.

Dream Cat Venus An Android's Dream
   This is starting to sound a bit more like the electric animals from the PKD novel. Particularly the vidlenses.

'Electric Sheep' Runs On Real Grass - EATR Robot
   An 'electric sheep' that actually runs on biomass?

EATR Robot Is A Vegetarian
   It turns out that reports of, well, ghoulish behavior on the part of Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot were completely unfounded. Not surprisingly.

Robot Cats Perfect For Older Britons
   Ah, those engineers at the Royal Academy. They've been getting into the science fiction section of the library again, eh?

Nexus One? Nexus Six Is Google Phone You Want
   It has 'ten million possible combinations of cerebral activity'. Now, that would be a smart phone.

Does PETA Dream Of Electric Groundhogs?
   SF fans have a tender spot in their hearts for robotic animals; as it turns out, PETA's wish has already come true.

SmartBird Robotic Bird In Flight
   Remarkable biomimetic robot from the Festo corporation (not Tyrell).

Emotion Detector Like PKD's Voight-Kampff Empathy Test
   This device was predicted by Philip K. Dick forty years ago.

Do Swiss Roboticists Dream Of Electric Sheep?
   'He ascended … to the covered pasture whereon his electric sheep grazed.'- Philip K. Dick, 1968.

E-Book Reading Up - Print Book Reading Down
   'You press this button here you see and the screen lights up giving you the index.'- Douglas Adams, 1979.

Robotic Dog, Cat For Cornell Sim-Based Veterinarian Hospital
   '... the fakes are beginning to be darn near real, what with those disease circuits they're building into the new ones.'- Philip K. Dick, 1968.

SimSensei Plus Kinnect Equals PKD's Voight-Kampff?
   'We know this to be a primary autonomic response...'- Philip K. Dick, 1968.

Cheetah Cub Robot From PKD's Android Dreams
   'What about an exact electric duplicate of your cat?'- Philip K. Dick, 1968.

Nexus 6 Phone Vs. Nexus-6 Android Comparison
   'Ten million possible combinations of cerebral activity'- Philip K. Dick, 1968. (Includes a preview of Nexus-7!)

Toshiba's Lifelike Communication Android
   Philip K. Dick offered a glimpse into this future in 1968.

Should Robots Have Civil Rights?
   'I've seen things... you people wouldn't believe...'- Blade Runner.

Thync Mood Alteration Like PKD's Mood Organ
   'I sat down at my mood organ and I experimented...'

Meet Spot, The Electric Quadrupedal, Er, Robot Dog
   They still can't roll over, because they avoid being rolled over.

Sony Aibo Robotic Dog Now With No Repairmen
   '...they break down and then everyone in the building knows.'- Philip K. Dick, 1968.

Should Humanity Switch To Robotic Pets?
   'What about an exact electric duplicate of your cat?'- Philip K. Dick, 1968.

Thync Mood-Changing Wearable Device
   'Very gently, hypnotically, the electronic pulses throbbed in the frontal lobes of his brain.'- Arthur C. Clarke, 1964.

Joy For All Companion - Robot Pet
   What about an exact electric duplicate of your cat? - Philip K. Dick, 1968.

Deep Brain Stimulation Soon Without Surgery
   'I sat down at my mood organ and I experimented.' - Philip K. Dick, 1968.

Robot Animals Set To 'Spy in the Wild'
   '[The electric sheep], sophisticated piece of hardware that it was, chomped away in simulated contentment...' - Philip K. Dick, 1968.

EU Debates Kill Switches For Robots
   'I have a mechanism which our autofac on Mars builds as an... emergency safety...' - Philip K. Dick, 1968.

Sony's New, Cuter Aibo Robot Puppy
   Engineered to be adorable.

Jibo Home Robot Says Goodbye, Is Killswitched
   'It resembles an oyster....' Philip K. Dick, 1968.

New Robotic Scanner Does Automated Eye Imaging
   Benefits humans, does not identify replicants.

Musk: Defeat The Bots, Authenticate The Humans
   'I'm not a peace officer,' Rick said. 'I'm a bounty hunter.' - Philip K. Dick, 1968.

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