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Three Dimensional Flat Panel Screen Announced
   On October 13, 2003 Sharp Electronics released the first laptop computer capable of 3D images without needing to use special glasses, the Actius RD3D.
DARPA Wants Exoskeletons
   In a briefing today on GovExec.com, a variety of projects from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) demonstrate that some science fiction thinking is good.
EMBRIO Embodies The Tumblebug
   Bombardier recently came up with a new concept vehicle that "promises a whole new experience on the road." The EMBRIO would be a single-wheeled vehicle that used gyroscopes and sensors to maintain proper attitude.
Skyray Human Glider Flight
   Tired of dawdling along at one hundred and twenty miles an hour, a typical terminal velocity for human-shaped skydivers? Can you go faster? and farther?
Tmsuk T52 Enryu Support Dragon Hyper Rescue Robot
   Enryu, a telefactoring rescue robot capable of lifting steel girders and tearing the doors off cars, was demonstrated to the press yesterday.
AirScooter II Ultralight: Heinlein's Copter Harness?
   In 1954, Robert Heinlein described a "copter harness" - you will soon be able to buy the AirScooter II, an easy-to-fly ultralight aircraft that comes pretty close.
Russian Flying Saucers Coming to USA
   Flying Saucers from Russia are coming to our skies - and the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command invited them.
Road Stud Traffic Camera Reads License Plates
   A traffic surveillance camera concealed in a road stud can read your license plate as you drive by; it can even see if your tires are bald at 150 miles per hour.
High Speed Hand Dryer
   It's fast, it's neat, it pushes water off the palms and backs of your hands in one easy motion. No, it's not from Ronco - it's a Mitsubishi Electric design, until now available only in Japan.
HetaCool - Your Personal Antifreeze?
   Lowering the body temperature to near freezing would be very helpful for certain surgeries, but it's impossible to cool blood to that temperature without disrupting the cells you need to live. But what if you had antifreeze running in your veins?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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
Calendar Ring
   I always liked the finger watch; now you can get a calendar ring.
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.
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.
SpaceShipOne - The First Strato-Yacht?
   Is SpaceShipOne a modern incarnation of a Joy-boat Junior, from Methuselah's Children?
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
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).
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)...
Bring On The Hush-A-Phone!
   We've all read about the studies being conducted on the airlines, that perhaps one day soon we will all be forced to sit cheek-by-jowl with people who will conduct loud conversations on their cell phones. Isn't there some way to fend off this disaste
Eunicycle Single-Wheel Gyro-Stabilized Scooter
   Dr. Trevor Blackwell has constructed a self-balancing, powered unicycle he calls the Eunicycle. It's pretty close to what Robert Heinlein had in mind in 1940 in The Roads Must Roll.
Young Blood Found To Revive Aging Muscles
   Dr. Thomas Rando and his group have been studying specialized cells called satellite cells, which are the stem cells in muscles.
Microwire Data Storage
   Microwires 3 to 5 times thinner than a human hair are being studied as a possible data storage alternative to CD-ROMs. Microwire technology originated in the old Soviet Union; they are now being studied elsewhere.
Mars Crew Selection Fact And Fiction
   According to a recent article in The Scientist, psychological factors would seriously challenge the crew of a manned Mars mission.
ANPR Cams - Britain's Roadside Big Brother
   The UK's ANPR cameras will log the movement of every vehicle on the roads.
Hayabusa Spacecraft Makes Asteroid Landing
   Craft lands on an asteroid just 65 years after Robert Heinlein described it in a story.
SmartPal V Robot Picks Up, Vacuums Rec Room
   SmartPal V gets better; this robot is shaping up into a great general purpose robot.
Who First Thought About Solar Powered Cars?
   The earliest reference I can think of is from 1940. But there are some cool hybrids with solar panels that will be available soon.
Care-O-Bot Robot Does Chores One-Handed
   This robot has only one arm, but it's a pretty good one, according to the specs.
SkyBot High-Rise Window Cleaning Robot
   SkyBot is a rigorously tested solution for a problem that kills 70 workers in the U.S. alone - high-rise window washing.
HAL-5 Robot Suit
   "Humans may be able to mutate into supermen in the near future," said Yoshiyuki Sankai, inventor of the HAL-5 robotic suit.
3D Holographic Images And Heinlein's Stereovision Tank
   Harold Garner and his research team have used a gel-filled tank and a Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing (DLP) Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) to generate dynamic three-dimensional views from holograms.
Blinkx.tv And Heinlein's Newsbox
   Robert Heinlein wrote about something similar two generations ago.
iRobot Scooba And Heinlein's 'Hired Girl' Robot
   Heinlein thought of it - iRobot implemented it - it only took us fifty years to catch up to RAH (this time).
Earth Skunk Cabbage And Martian Desert Cabbage
   Heinlein also wrote about cabbages that could regulate their internal temperature.
Tweezer Magnifier Available Now (Bush Robots - Not)
   What will they think of next? As my eyes age, I need this.
Self-Steering Buses In Cambridge
   Self-steering cars and buses are coming!
Lucent DVR Sleep Detector
   Robert Heinlein anticipated Lucent technologies by forty-five years on this one.
Skiing That Soft Lunar Powder
   Skiing on the moon? Heinlein thought you could do it, and so do the Apollo astronauts.
Honda Accord ADAS Heinlein Wannabe
   We are SO close to Heinlein's Camden Speedster.
Toxoplasma Gondii Parasite Mind Control
   How could a tiny parasite influence the behavior of an entire organism?
Moonquake-Proof Moonbases Needed?
   Okay, who's been working on the problem of making sure that lunar habitats can withstand moonquakes?
Spy Cameras Watch Spy Cameras In UK
   In Britain, home of 1984, surveillance cameras are under surveillance by - surveillance cameras.
Sonic Grenade Homebrew
   Here's just the thing to wake up your roommate - and you can make one yourself!
Trophy Active Defense System Not Quite A Force Field
   Not exactly a force-field, ADS still acts like one.
Audio Bone-Conduction Headphones
   Tired of headphones banging on your eardrums? Bang directly on your nerves through your skull instead.
Long Life Family Study (Heinlein's 'Howard Families') Now Recruiting
   Robert Heinlein got his program started in the mid-1800's; the NIA is starting late, but maybe they'll still get there.
Cryogenic Suspension For Humans In Two Years
   Heinlein's cold rest gets closer and closer - human trials soon.
Knock-Based Commands Like Heinlein's
   Heinlein called this one; Linux programmers now using knock-codes on accelerometer-equipped laptops.
Rinspeed 'Splash' English Channel Crossing
   Amphibious cars are almost speedy enough for sci-fi.
Lo-Tek Book Reading (In Bed) Stand
   How to read a heavy book in bed hands-free. The anwer comes from Japan.
Nokia Silence Booth - Shh!
   If only someone would install these everywhere...
Remember Ring From Goldsmith's
   Unique ring uses a micro thermopile to help you remember important dates - yeah, like that one.
Robonaut Centaur At NextFest 2006
   The remarkable Robonaut telepresence robot is now available in a new form.
DARPA Urban Challenge For Autonomous Vehicles
   Cars that can really drive themselves in traffic? DARPA sets the Urban Challenge.
Launch Ring Magnetic Launch System By LaunchPoint
   Although just in the planning stages, this could give us a twist on an old Heinlein suggestion for reaching space.
Airblade From Dyson Airblast From Heinlein
   Dyson's latest product offers 400 kph winds of drying power - more than Heinlein's 1940's airblast.
HAL Robotic Suit Ready For Production
   Those Heinlein robotic exoskeletons you ordered? Limited functionality suits will soon be available for about $600 per month.
Manned Asteroid Mission For Constellation Program?
   Other uses are being planned for the lunar landing gear NASA already has in the works.
Lifeblood And Beta Tank Bubble-Based 'Stereo Tanks'
   Unusual sculptures that use bubbles as pixels in low-res displays - 2D and 3D.
RIDC-01 Robot Maid Will Not Replace Rosie In Our Hearts
   This robot maid is, unfortunately, not yet commercially available, but it actually exists, unlike Rosie from the Jetson's.
First Jetpowered Flying Man
   Apparently, the first successful jet-pack; it looks pretty good on YouTube.
Romi Robot Orwellian Vacuum Cleaner
   Diminutive vacuum cleaner - is really a spybot.
Parasitic Worms Create 'Zombie' Snails
   I thought Toxoplasma gondii was bad, but these poor snails really get a raw deal.
HyperBike - NASA-Supported Heinlein Lunocycle?
   This unique bicycle combines elements of old-fashioned big wheels and racing wheelchairs. NASA's interested, too.
Robot Parking In Fact and In Fiction
   Okay, George Jetson had a car that folded into a briefcase; but you can take your car to NYC and have the robot garage park it for you in real life.
Automatic License Plate Recognition Goes Mobile
   The police can now check up to 3,000 license plates per hour as they cruise down the road.
Segway Robotic Mobility Platform Looks Like A Tumblebug
   This nifty little item might be usable by engineers as well as by their robotic applications.
Car Seat Prototype Knows When You Are Sleepy
   This smart car seat will wake you up when you get sleepy behind the wheel - but will it get to market fast enough?
Cool Robots At Dartmouth (And Greenland)
   Not just nifty, these robots are built to handle the most demanding conditions on Earth.
GEN H-4 Looks Like Heinlein's Copter Harness
   John Thomas really wanted one of these, and so do I.
Hawking Follows Path Set By Heinlein's Waldo
   Stephen Hawking gets just a bit closer to Waldo's home in space.
Used Spacecraft Lot Needed On Moon
   If you could just gather all the stuff, Robert Heinlein's dream of a used spacecraft lot could be realized.
Chinese Government To Control Olympic Weather
   The Chinese government appears to have more control over the weather than you might think.
Power Pedal Exoskeleton From Matsushita
   It kind of looks like a power-assisted Stairmaster...
Win A Trip To Outer Space!!!
   That's right - a free trip to outer space. There's just one catch.
For Those Who Read In Bed
   Adjust bed warmth by reading bedtime stories with this unique item.
Tondon Robot Autonomous Floor Cleaner
   Zippy Balinese-style autonomous cleaning bot.
Tango Motorcycle Monocycle Like Heinlein's Tumblebug
   This looks like great fun to ride, way more fun than a Segway, anyway.
Imagine The Pizzamato
   Here at least is a nice picture of what genetically modified food should really be like; Heinlein pictured it first, though.
Heinlein Controlways Predicted By Kiwi Profs
   Professors seem to be channeling RAH on this one.
EEStor Ultracapacitor 'Battery' And Heinlein's Shipstone
   Yet another reason to hope that electric vehicles might soon become a practical, affordable transportation choice.
IBM Stores Information On A Single Molecule
   Now that's a small computer system.
Baby's First Tinfoil Hat - MummyWraps With Swiss Shield
   This interesting item for expectant mothers makes humorous reading - let's hope there's nothing to it.
Betavoltaic Battery: 30 Years Of Power
   Is it possible to create a small battery that could power a laptop for years?
Air Leak Sensor For Spacecraft
   This air sensor uses a new method to find air leaks in spacecraft; Heinlein, however, had a more colorful idea about sixty years earlier.
Heinlein's Giant Waldo Comes To Life
   Engineers and scrap metal artists worked hard to bring this enormous robotic hand to life.
Bone Conduction Cell Phone
   Who would think of a bone conduction phone. Besides Pantech - RAH, that's who.
Virtual Fence To Be Tested This Month
   A virtual barrier between the US and Mexico is being tested; the glitches that stopped this Boeing product from being complete last summer have been fixed.
2007 DARPA Urban Challenge Videos
   Take a look at fresh videos of the autonomous vehicles entered into the urban challenge.
Carnegie Mellon's Boss Wins DARPA Urban Challenge
   It was a complicated call, but Carnegie Mellon pulls it out in the DARPA Urban Challenge.
Sarcos Exoskeleton Video
   The Sarcos version of an exoskeleton; nice video gives the details.
Twendy-One Robot Is Your Humanoid Helper
   Twendy-One is the kind of robot that might be taking care of you (or your father or grandfather) in a few years - in Japan.
VertiPod From Air Buoyant: Segway Of The Sky
   This is a classic single-person flying machine; you steer it by leaning where you want to go.
Orexin A Sleep Surrogate
   DARPA seems to have funded something that bloggers who stay up too late will pay real money for the next morning.
GM Betting On Driverless Cars
   When GM says it thinks that autonomous vehicles will be commercially available in ten years, you're starting to get mainstream.
Life Machines Barber Robot Concept
   Would you let a machine give you a really close shave? Explore your feelings.
Shuttle Atlantis Landing Video, As Per Heinlein
   I know, this story has been covered all over, but did you know that Robert Heinlein was an early visionary on the idea of a space shuttle?
Nokia Morph Cell Phone Concept
   The funny thing about this advanced concept is that parts of it are already available from other cell phone makers.
Rain-Making Bacteria May Affect Climate
   If we knew more about how rain forms, we might be able to have some control over rainfall.
NASA's Chariot Is Not Your Father's Moon Rover
   NASA has a prototype of their new moon rover; take a look at the video, and consider what Clarke and Heinlein described for lunar travel.
REEM-B Robot Autonomous Helper Video
   This is one smooth robot; take a look and see if perhaps REEM-B has a place in your home.
Sports In Space
   Life in space will be incomplete with sports to play. But what sports are appropriate to space?
Mediseus Surgical Drilling Simuator Remote Haptic Tutor
   This device not only uses force-feedback techniques, it's also usable as a remote device; students and teachers can be on different continents.
Human Universal Load Carrier Exoskeleton From Berkeley Bionics
   Very nicely implemented exoskeleton device from the makers of the BLEEX is ready for you to place your orders now.
Electro-Sensitive People And Lo Teks
   Can Wi-Fi actually harm particular individuals?
Electrolocation Robotic Hand Has PreTouch
   It's amazing how ignoring the human paradigm for vision-based control can succeed - this is how sharks would make robotic hands.
Never-Stop Rail Transit System Proposed
   Take a look at this approach to a well-known problem; sf writers have their own ideas.
ReadyBot Robot Picks Up Like Heinlein 'Hired Girl'
   This robot has a key ability that I noted was lacking in commercial vacuuming robots.
gCubik 3D Handheld Display
   Display prototype aims towards three-dimensional images without special glasses, in a hand-held form factor.
Skypark Robotic Parking Garage: The Future Of Enormous Machines
   We're all fascinated by the successful miniaturization of devices; is there room in our future for really enormous machines?
Jetpack From New Zealand Takes Off
   Pretty nifty DIY jetpack from New Zealander Glenn Martin; includes better video than that provided by the New York Times.
What Should A Hybrid Sound Like?
   If a car could make any sound, what sound should it make?
Space Marines Idea Takes Off
   Interesting idea slowly moves into a real organization; and who first thought of space marines?
Indian Court Says Brain Scan Proves Murder
   Using a test called Brain Electrical Oscillations Signature, an Indian court convicts a woman based on her brain contents.
Pribot Robotic Prius Tours 'Frisco
   New entry in self-driving sweepstakes comes not from a huge team but from one very determined engineer; you may recall his self-driving motorcycle from four years ago.
Holographic 3D Television - And No Glasses
   A nice step forward has been taken in creating true 3D holographic displays without funny-looking glasses.
Self-Balancing Unicycle - Heinlein's Tumblebug
   Nifty cycle looks a lot like what Heinlein described in the 1940's.
Toyota Robot Maid Learns From Mistakes
   Great-looking robot maid from Toyota and Tokyo University researchers goes slow, but learns to avoid mistakes and memorizes good strategies.
Hyperion Power Module Neighborhood Nuclear Reactor
   The story about small 'nuclear batteries,' small plants that produce enough power for small towns or big neighborhoods, just keeps coming back.
Moller M400 SkyCar Taking Too Long
   What exactly is keeping this guy? Don't we all want skycars? Robert Heinlein certainly did.
Winboni Window-Washing Robot
   Very neat little robot is a real winner - of a prestigious award for students. Check the video.
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.
Book Time Page-Turning Robot
   Simple but effective 'robot' helps hospitalized readers. Now with video!
Basil Reification Robot
   A general purpose household robot should be able to easily identify household items like chairs - but until now, they couldn't do it very well.
SCIgen - Computer Generates CS Papers
   Read about this paper-generating program and wonder at a brand new, ground-breaking paper by five science fiction titans - Asimov, Gallun, Herbert, Russell and Heinlein.
Attention Assist - Drowsy-Driver Detection Standard
   German engineering gives rise to the exact opposite of a famous sfnal automotive prediction.
Robotic Suit For Farmers In Japan
   No more (non-powered) squatting and pulling; now, robotics are on your side too, farmers. But what about droids who do the work for you?
Aquapeutics Futuristic Luxury Steam Shower
   I feel somewhat reluctant to enclose myself in this device, especially without any protective gear, but we must face the future bravely.
Hamster Controls iRobot Create Vehicle
   This hamster knows where he's going; the next step is to soup up this iRobot hobby robot for some real speed.
3D Television Display In Real Time
   Interesting implementation of the 3D display idea; an exemplary video both explains the concepts and demonstrates the device.
MIT Conversation Shielding Like Cone Of Silence
   Keeping those office conversations private needs serious technology. MIT researchers are there with the goods.
Electric Cars To Make Noise By Law?
   A quarter-century ago, an SF writer thought that it might be cool to give silent cars real engine sounds. Now, you might be forced to - and no way to turn it off.
WolframAlpha Is Not A Search Engine
   I see the WolframAlpha computational knowledge engine in two science-fictional ways, but their engineers might be seeing another.
Facial Expression And Mannerism 'Cloning' By Computer
   The cloning of facial expression and mannerisms can now be accomplished in real time; better be careful who (or what) you are doing that video chat with.
Lunar Ice Debate's Two NASA Probes
   Space scientists are holding their collective breath to see if two moon missions scheduled for this week will result in the discovery of water ice on the Moon.
Rocketplane For Hawaiian Spaceport?
   Trips to the edge of space from the continental US are fine, but if you want the blue planet view, you'll want to take off from Hawaii.
Loose Tweets Sink Fleets
   The Marines decided to take a year off from on-duty social networking to study the matter more carefully. Includes modern-day take on vintage military IT patriotic poster.
Baha Divino Bone-Conduction iPod Implanted 'Ear Buds'
   These are very neat - you can hear them much better than regular ear buds or other such devices, particularly in noisy environments.
eniCycle Self-Balancing Tumblebug
   Just the thing for engineers - if they're working on the rolling roads.
Death Risk Rankings Provides 'Death Calculator'
   Interesting website attempts to determine your chance of death in the coming year scientifically.
Be Master To Robot Slave
   Be the master of your robotic slave and force it to ... play tennis?
Honda U3-X Self-Balancing Unicycle Video
   With video. What's that you're saying? Another attempt to bring Heinlein's tumblebug to life? That's right.
RAPUD Robotic Arm Helps Disabled Reach
   Robert Heinlein also thought about robotics for the disabled; we're catching up.
Obrero Robot Has The Soft Touch
   It would be a pleasure to shake hands with this robot, which uses sensitive manipulation to gauge just the right gripping force.
WaterCar Python Not Your Father's Amphicar
   This is not a slow boat and it's not a slow car, either. I'd like to try driving one of these. With video.
Dish Washing Robot Arm
   Watch this video of a one-armed dish bandit! Only a prototype, but I still think that Heinlein was on to something when he wondered about dishwashing robots.
Sony 360 3D 'Stereo Tank' Video
   A video of the Sony prototype 360 degree viewable 3D display has finally made it onto youtube.
Is This A 'Skylight' Leading To A Lunar Cave?
   Could this deep hole be an entrance to a lunar cave or lava tube? If so, it could point the way to a perfect location for permanent habitation on the Moon.
Toyota Delivery Robot Home Helper
   This one-armed prototype could be pretty handy around the house, especially if you're laid up.
'Significant Amount' Of Lunar Water Found
   Lunar ice mining might actually come true, droogs, let's hope Authority buys ice at right price.

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