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Science
Fiction in the News Articles
related to the works of
Jack Vance
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Jack Vance was born in California in 1916 (d. 2013), published his first story in 1945. Vance's work defies easy description; his highly literate style is not what most science fiction readers expect. His work has won many awards, including two Hugos, a Nebula, the World Fantasy Award, an Edgar (for mystery) and the SFWA Grandmaster award for his lifetime of work.
(From Jack Vance)
In an unusual tribute to Vance, his entire output of stories and novels is being collected in the Vance Integral Edition, a volunteer effort by hundreds of fans.
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: |
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.
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.
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.
Shadow Sculptures Of Shiego Fukuda
Sculptor Shiego Fukuda created an apparently abstract three-dimensional object - However, the image that Fukuda wants you to see is the shadow of the sculpture - a motorcycle that can be seen when a light is passed through.
Jack Vance's Incredibly Thin Solar Sail
Jack Vance guessed the thickness of an ultralight solar sail propulsion system Alliant Techsystems and NASA have recently tested.
Wing-Morphing Micro Air Vehicles
Bird-like MAVs use wings based on sea gulls to navigate urban canyons.
Fab Tree Hab And The Houses Of Iszm
Imagine a society in which living tree structures were used instead of dead lumber; Jack Vance has done it, and so have MIT grads.
First Undersea Restaurant
Ithaa opened just forty years after Jack Vance wrote about them.
TREETENTS And House Trees
Interesting realization of the pod-like dwellings described generations ago by Jack Vance.
VeriChip Chairman Proposes RFID Chips For Immigrants
Looks like VeriChip is looking to expand its market; what works for cattle should work for guest workers, apparently.
Explay Nano Projector Pocket Display
Remarkable display projector is smaller than even science fiction authors imagined.
VeriMed Implanted RFID Dogtags Studied By Military, VeriChip
Not a pleasant story, but this science-fictional possibility is being studied by the US military.
Urban Cactus Architecture
This unusual building calls other science-fictional buildings to mind.
Grow Your Own Furniture
Christopher Castle has a uniquely green solution to creating furniture the all-natural way.
DAVID Freeware Laser Range Scanning
Excellent software package solves problems that only science fiction authors attempted a generation ago.
NextEngine 3D Scanner Captures Your World
This device provides excellent three-dimensional CAD files when presented with small objects.
RapLeaf, Whuffie and Strakh
What is the best way to apportion goods between people in a society? How about starting with a reputation manager?
SHOW Lensless PicoP Projector World's Smallest
This amazing little device was foreseen thirty-five years ago by SF Grandmaster Jack Vance.
Treepee Crude By Iszic Standards
Your chances for elegant living in trees are better, now, with the introduction of the Treepee.
Ithaa Undersea Restaurant Review And Video
I wrote an article on this unique restaurant several years ago, but I recently ran across more information.
Toshiba LED Pico Projector
Forty years ago, this was a science-fictional item.
DoCoMo Cellphone Projector
This looks like a pretty cool way to see movies in your cubicle, or make a slide presentation without a lot of extra gear.
FlowerBot Robotic Flower Follows And Grabs
Neat little robot looks just like a flower; take a look at the video to see it work.
Walking House Ambles Away From Disaster
Fascinating project puts a robotic base under an ancient lifestyle.
Terminator Seeds Deployed To Iraq
Order 81 provides the authority to require Iraqi farmers to use genetically altered seeds that do not produce naturally viable offspring.
Reactogon Synthesizer - Chain Reactive Performance Arpeggiator
Fascinating musical interface is a cross between a board game and an instrument.
Energy Cannon Now On Order
These lightweight laser-based energy weapons should be able to shoot down tactical targets like surface-to-air missiles and rockets.
RealView 3D Scanner - For Your Desk
This handy little desktop wonder can bring at least the external details of any object (that fits) right in to the digital world.
Samsung W7900 Show Cell Phone Digital Projector
Video shows an impressive little projector inside a cell phone; wouldn't you rather watch your pocket videos on a larger screen?
Reputation As Property
Whether you say 'whuffie' or 'strakh,' young and old sf fans understand the value of reputation.
Yellow Treehouse Cafe - A Tree House Restaurant
Made for a TV ad, this functioning treehouse restaurant would please the Iszic, perhaps.
Hotelicopter Hovering Hotel
This clever fake also has a nicely 'shopped video.
Pooktre Living Garden Chair
Why not just grow your furniture? Forget all that tedious sawing and polishing.
Human-Injectable Satellite Tracking Chip
Unfortunately, someone has tried to patent a fifty year-old idea of Jack Vance's; we could all live without it, even as Vance's character would have preferred in the novel.
AMOLED E-Passport W/Rotating Mugshot
This active matrix organic light emitting diode is no mere digital hokey-pokey; it's a three-dimensional driver's license photo, or (as Jack Vance might call it) a tri-type record.
Aeryon Scout UAV Gets Upgrades
This little UAV has come a long way in just a year; it's a pretty close match to one of Jack Vance's ideas.
Coolpix S1000pj Projector Camera
This camera does more than point-and-shoot; it is a projector and camera all in one. I think Jack Vance had this one designed - in his mind - about forty years ago.
Arena Salix Pavillion Willow Architecture
Graceful structures made of materials that mock our ability to create self-healing coatings or concrete.
Eye-bot Lands On Your Ceiling
Yes, look up - what's that? A ceiling fan you didn't know you had? No, it's a surveillance drone with excellent autonomous capabilities. With video. Smile for the camera!
'Tofu' Chair Inspired By Plant Cells
Reveal the plant cell-inspired chair within the carved block of 'tofu. This design won the red dot design award in Singapore this year.
Parajet SkyCar Adventure
Unlike most flying cars, you can actually place an order for one of these right now.
Ikaros Solar Sail Works!
The first push from sunlight has been felt by Japan's Ikaros spacecraft.
Solar-Photon Hoop Sails For Extrasolar Travel
Space tech from the 1950's and the sf of the early 1960's is brushed off for possible use.
Memory-Erasing Drugs
Do you have memories that you would rather not be able to access? This researcher has a possible technique.
Baubotanik - Construction Botany - Builds Bridges
'A dwelling must be all of a unit—the walls, the drainage, the decor grown in!' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Medical Monitoring With Flexible Electronic 'Tattoos'
Not only incredibly thin, but also 'structured into a serpentine shape' that allows them to deform without breaking.
Klout Score Measures Your Influence
Based on 10 networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare.
'World's Heaviest Woman' Title Sought
To balance out the World's Greatest Losers, we find the world's most serious gainers.
Living Bridges Grown From Trees
Some are one hundred feet in length, and support up to fifty people at a time.
Drones Stick Tight, Remember Your Face
This technology makes drones smarter.
The KEN Diet - Eat Nothing And Love It!
So, are you thinking of Jem'Hadar or Meks?
Galaxy Beam Smartphone Projector
"Ifness drew from his pocket a tube of dull black metal an inch in diameter, four inches long."
I Want A Curiosity Rover Sky Crane!
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
World's First 3D Printing 'Photo Booth'
'On the counter-top appeared a three-dimensional replica of Farr.'- Jack Vance, 1954.
QuickScann3D Has Your Full Body Duplicate
'... In a glass dome a three-dimensional simulacrum of himself six inches high took form.'- Jack Vance, 1954.
Living Root Bridges Of India
Grow your own infrastructure and housing using ecologically sound materials.
China's Crab Walker Robot Tank In Firing Mode
'The mechanism was to consist of eighteen segments, each equiped with a pair of legs...'- Jack Vance, 1964.
The Living Tree House
'There were trees comprised of a central columnar trunk and four vast leaves...'- Jack Vance, 1954.
Mini Statues Of You From 3D Images
'...A three-dimensional simulacrum of himself six inches high took form.'- Jack Vance, 1954.
MIT 3D Scanner - 1000x Improvement?
'... Feeler-planes brushed down...' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Scanify 3D Scanner For You!
'... Feeler-planes brushed down...' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Unrolling The Filmy Materials Of Space Tech
'When unfolded and unrolled... it became a tough, gleaming film.' - Jack Vance, 1962.
Ancient Russian Walking Excavator Would Be Perfect RV
I don't need it to go fast, it just needs to amble along.
China's Social Credit System - A Facebook-1984 Mashup
'Prestige, face, mana, repute, glory: the Sirenese word is strakh.' - Jack Vance, 1976.
A New Way To Run Into Things
'He made an adjustment, pointed the tube at the wall beside Etzwane, and projected a cone of light.' - Jack Vance, 1971.
Osmiridium Sounds Like Science Fiction (But It's Not!)
I can't resist science-fictional elements. Especially when they're real.
Chinese Steal American Seeds From Our Fields
'The Iszic maintain a jealously guarded monopoly...'
Drone-Based Aerial Hammock
'The observation vehicle... was suspended by a pair of cables from the kite-copter.' - Jack Vance, 1952.
Elon Musk's Traffic Tunnel Challenge Is Boring
'The car vibrated... threading the maze of local tubes.' - Jack Vance, 1954.
China Requires Social Credit Codes Of Live Stream Users
'Every man has his characteristic strakh...' - Jack Vance, 1976.
Biohybrid Robotics USArmy Adds Muscle Tissue To Robots
'Great rectangular slabs of muscle, slung into a rectangular frame.' - Jack Vance, 1967.
Carver EV Single Person Microcar Leans In
'Farr paid his fare, summoned a one-man car...' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Atomic Force Microscopy Works On Living Cells
'He stood rigid as feeler-planes brushed down his body.' - Jack Vance, 1954.
Biohybrid Robot Combines Living Muscle With Artificial Materials
'...great rectangular slabs of muscle, slung into a rectangular frame.' - Jack Vance, 1967.
Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.' - Jack Vance, 1952.
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