Science Fiction in the News:
Science and Technology News

Autonomous Tractor Harvest-Ready
'[He] dropped the handles of the plough that was plugged into the robomule...' - Harry Harrison, 1965. (re: Harry Harrison)

Face2Face Is Bradbury's Spot-Wavex Scrambler
'A special spot-wavex scrambler also caused his televised image... to mouth the vowels and consonants beautifully.' - Ray Bradbury, 1953. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Chris Brewer Speaks at Michigan Robotics
'As the beautiful old car cruised in almost perfect silence under the guidance of its automatic controls...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1976. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

AgileQuad Object Avoidance Drone
Perfect for forest moons. (re: Various)

Artificial Skin Grows Hair
'Plastissue, as any fool can see...' - WF Wallace, 1952. (re: WF Wallace)

Cortana Clip - The New In-Ear Wearables
'And in her ears the little Seashells, the thimble radios tamped tight...' - Ray Bradbury, 1953. (re: Ray Bradbury)

Tesla Unveils Affordable Model 3 Electric Car
'They can therefore roam over the roads of the entire hemisphere [combining] the sensations of coasting with the interest of seeing the country well.'- John Jacob Astor IV, 1894. (re: John Jacob Astor)

One Third Of Young Canadians Prefer Robot Boss
`Sit, old son. We have a lot to talk about.' - William Gibson, 1984. (re: William Gibson)

Epigenetic Memory's On/Off Switch Found
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!' - Barbara Hambly, 1982. (re: Barbara Hambly)

Lit Motors C-1 Gyro-Stabilized 2-Person Motorbike
'It was a small affair, ovoid in shape, and poised on two centerline wheels…' - Robert Heinlein, 1940. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Picobug Robot Flies, Runs And Grabs
'About it, as it scrambled forward, were weeds and bushes and grass...' - Raymond Z Gallun, 1936. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Comedian Robot Named Data
'[The] capacity to distinguish between gags that are partly funny and gags that are very funny' - William Tenn, 1951. (re: William Tenn)

Is Space In The Brain Limited?
'...Some totally different method of memory association in order to be eclectively time-binding.' - Robert Heinlein, 1941. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Here's Your Man-Made Quake Danger Map
Never thought I'd see this in my lifetime. (re: Various)

Scanify 3D Scanner For You!
'... Feeler-planes brushed down...' - Jack Vance, 1954. (re: Jack Vance)

Textiles Self-Cleaning In Sunlight
'You could thrust your gloved hand into mud, and it would be white a few seconds later' - Neal Stephenson, 1995. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Virtual Reality Therapy Helps Patients With Depression
Entering the virtual reality dreams of patients. (re: Roger Zelazny)

IBM Tone Analyzer - Like HAL 9000
'I can tell from your voice harmonics...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1968. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

'Eye In The Sky' Movie Borrows 35, 80 Year-Old SF
SF writers don't have a problem seeing decades into the future. (re: Roger Zelazny)

FingerIO Active Sonar Smartphone Finger Tracking
'Wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope.' - Douglas Adams, 1979. (re: Samuel R. Delany)

Computers Learning To Read Lips
No, it's safe, HAL can't read your lips now... (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Metal That Morphs
'A mimetic poly-alloy.' John Cameron, 1991. (re: Philip K Dic13k)

Chromat Misfit Shine Tracks Health And Glows
'Show me your hand, Logan...' - Nolan and Johnson, 1967. (re: Nolan and Johnson)

3D Modeling And Virtual Reality Tech Patents For Body Labs
'... Another small figure in a more voluminous type of robe marched on to the dial.' - HG Wells, 1899. (re: HG Wells)

Experimental Flying Wing
'The ship was a tremendous flying wing.' - Doc Smith, 1934. (re: EE Doc Smith)

Tay, Microsoft Chatbot, Offline To 'Absorb It All'
'If you spoke English, results might be whimsical...'- Robert Heinlein, 1966. (re: Robert Heinlein)

3D Printing Dinner
'The food slot gave him flat reddish-brown bricks.'- Larry Niven, 1970. (re: Larry Niven)

The Remotely-Operated Cold Atom Laboratory
'Hello, Europa... Is this your robot I'm looking at?' - James Blish, 1957. (re: James Blish)

Closer To An Artificial, Organic Heart
Closer to this phildickian future every day. (re: Philip K Dick)

Meet Hugh, Your Robot Librarian
'You'll find them only in the greatest libraries...' - Harry Harrison, 1962. (re: Harry Harrison)

FlexEnable OLED Bracelet SmartPhone Concept
'The tiny screen in the bracelet's center...' - Roger Zelazny, 1980. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Cyborg Cardiac Patch Combines Organics And Electronics
'[It] had not yet objected to being made over into a portion of an electronic system... '- Philip K. Dick, 1964. (re: Philip K DIck)

Nadine Robot Cares For Dementia Patients
'The robant and the tiny old woman entered the control room slowly...' - Philip K Dick, 1953. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Robot Science Fiction Calms Older Adults
I'll be back... to ease your anxiety about robots! (re: Various)

Human Academics Recommend AIs As Teachers
'... the torrent of facts that came from the memory cells of the City Fathers...' - James Blish, 1957. (re: James Blish)

Google Engineers Not Sure What Google RankBrain AI Is Doing
'What lay down there? ...And how far had it spread? Miles?' - Philip K. Dick, 1960. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Military Implants To Boost Memory
'He... pried a bright magenta splinter from his socket with a dirty thumbnail.' - William Gibson, 1985. (re: William Gibson)

Bionic Fingertips Would Have Improved Anakin's Experience
Regaining the sense of touch with artificial fingertips. (re: George Lucas)

Eagle-360 Spherical Wheel Concept
"AAAAaaargh!" - Will Smith, I, Robot (2004) (re: Various)

Smart Clothing From Finland
'A dress can change its color and texture in a few seconds...' - JG Ballard, 1970. (re: JG Ballard)

Lab-Grown Human Eyeball Tech Advances
'The eyes were vatgrown sea-green Nikon transplants.' - William Gibson, 1984. (re: Ridley Scott)

AlphaGo AI Defeats Go champion Lee Sedol
An amazing achievement for artificial intelligence researchers. (re: Ambrose Bierce)

Archinaut 3D Printing Autonomous Space Manufacturing System
Crawling across the structures of future space craft. (re: Charles Sheffield)

Volcanoes Terraformed Mars?
'When yon volcanoes belch gas...' - Niven and Pournelle. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

Ready For Your Halting State Driverless Drone Future?
'You hate the whole idea that some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre has got your life... in his hands.' - Charles Stross, 2007. (re: Charles Stross)

Snow Crash And Domino's DXP Pizza Delivery Vehicle
'The electromechanical hatch on the flank of his car is already opening to reveal his empty pizza slots...' - Neil Stephenson, 1992. (re: Neal Stephenson)

R2D2's Friend TUG: Hospital Robot By Aethon
**whistle whee woo whistle** - George Lucas, 1983. (re: George Lucas)

Crowdfunded Russian Beacon Satellite Is An Orbital Mirror
'I don't have to tell you about the seven two-mile-diameter orbital mirrors...' - Theodore Sturgeon, 1941. (re: Theodore Sturgeon)

Teleportation: How Might The Brain Handle It
'Any man was capable of jaunting provided he developed two faculties, visualization and concentration.' - Alfred Bester, 1956. (re: Alfred Bester)

Cheap Electronic Skin For Robots!
'Chemelectric afferent nerve-analogues...' - Roger Zelazny, 1966. (re: Roger Zelazny)

ANYmal Quadruped Robot Trots On
'Fast-plodding, articulated legs...' - Anthony Boucher, 1951. (re: Anthony Boucher)

Voice-Recognition Door DIY
'Almost all our locks are phonographic.' - Clement Fezandie, 1921. (re: Clement Fezandi)

3D Printed Replacement Tissue
'The object is built up of an infinite series of plane layers, at the focus of the ray,' - Jack Williamson, 1930. (re: Jack Williamson)

Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS)
'When it sees a tank silhouette, it steers toward it.' - Niven and Pournelle, 1985. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

CRAM Cockroach Robots Flatten On Demand
Yes, I think they're very graceful. (re: Steven Spielberg)

Rabbit's Brain Cryogenically Frozen Successfully
'Even in the case of the most perfect freezing there is still some activity...' - Edward Page Mitchell, 1879. (re: Edward Page Mitchell)

NTT Docomo To Create 'Ghost In The Shell' Technology
That's a lot of science-fictional tech! (re: )

Pothole Detection Technology Expands
'It would adapt its shape and diameter to the terrain...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1968. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Data Crystals Offer Eternal Storage
'The books were crystals with recorded contents...' - Stanislaw Lem, 1961. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

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

The Eye Is Watching! Samsung Gear 360 Camera
'It scooped up the eye that had been witnessing its activities.' - Robert Silverberg, 1969. (re: Robert Silverberg)

Artificial Muscles To Power UAV Drone Wings
'The long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...' - HG Wells, 1898. (re: HG Wells)

Denisovans, Neandertals... And Us?
'But in far realms, among strange hominids, you couldn't shun each other, either.' - Larry Niven, 1996. (re: Larry Niven)

Patented! Google's Autonomous Delivery Trucks
I hope Google's trucks can find my house! (re: Miles J. Breuer)

3 Parent Embryos Approved By Bioethicists
' A tkan merely courts a mlenb and is attracted to a good guur...' - William Tenn, 1949. (re: William Tenn)

DIY Armed UAV (Toy)
'Each a television eye and a sonic stunner...' - Larry Niven, 1972. (re: Larry Niven)

Tired Of Speeders On Your Block? DIY Speed Tracker!
'There is no danger of a vehicle's speed exceeding that allowed in the section in which it happens to be...'- John Jacob Astor IV, 1894. (re: John Jacob Astor IV)

Centriphone Whirling Selfie Camera
''Tight mid-shot and pull out on but behind me,' he told it...' - Karen Traviss, 2004. (re: Karen Traviss)

Eagles Vs. Drones
'Moon bird's view was... partly blocked by the pyramid, so that he did not see the bird-things dark against the brilliant sky...' - Roger Zelazny, 1080. (re: )

SCiO Scanner Wants You To Be Spock
Almost as easy as a tricorder? Apparently, you can pre-order one now. (re: Amitav Ghosh)

Self-Adapting Composite Heals Itself
'...Could seal the punctures that grain-of-sand-sized meteors might make.' - Ramond Z. Gallun, 1951. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun)

Rigid Clothing, Or Wearable Furniture?
'Earth's scientists solved the problem ... by devising rigid metallic clothing.' (re: Edmond Hamilton)

Swarming Intelligent Aquatic Surface Robots Ahoy!
'A remote-controlled emulsion, as it were, with uniform center...' - Stanislaw Lem, 1961. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

SuitX Cheap Medical Exoskeleton
'... standing on two corrugated-soled titanium footplates...' - Fritz Leiber, 1968. (re: Fritz Leiber)

Harvesting Energy From Internal Resonance
'Sometimes a man has a windmill on his roof...' - John Jacob Astor, 1894. (re: John Jacob Astor)

Sticker Harvests Energy From Your Skin
Another way to harvest power from the body. (re: Frank Herbert)

Twitter Sarcasm Detected By Computer
Seriously? (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Myo-Controlled Prosthetic Arm
'Sensitive actuators touch the tendons in your right wrist.'- Harry Harrison, 1960. (re: Harry Harrison)

Self-Driving Trucks For Netherlands' Ports
'Trucks gulped packages and scurried like beetles...' - Poul Anderson, 1956. (re: Poul Anderson)

Apple Ring: Finally, Engineers Want To Make My Finger Watch
'Crayn glanced at his finger watch...' - HB Fyfe, 1951. (re: HB Fyfe)

Google Should Name Roads After Science Fiction Authors
Heinlein, DIck, Niven - and more! (re: Miles J. Breuer)

First Flower Grown In Space Is Edible
Yeoman Rand, admire the flowers, please. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Get Your Own 64 Channel, Dry-Electrode Brain-Computer Headset!
'they all relaxed and got mellow....' - Philip K. Dick, 1977. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Biggest Drone Swarm Sets World Record
Most Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) airborne simultaneously. (re: Neal Stephenson)

ATLAS Robot Now Does Housework!
'Just what did I want Flexible Frank to do?' - Robert Heinlein, 1956. (re: Robert Heinlein)

LG's Rollable Display Video Is Amazing
Rollable maps, oh yes, please. (re: EC Tubb)

Asteroids Threaten Earth? New Study Details Laser Ablation Method
'This obelisk is one huge deflector mechanism...' - Gene Roddenberry, 1968. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

EHang 184 AAV Passenger Drone Future Of Commuting?
'The cab was an egg-shaped bubble...' - James Blish, 1957. (re: James Blish)

VIDIUS Smallest First Person View (FPV) Drone
'...the Scarab... transmitting to its manipulator, far away now, all that ... it saw with its minute vision tubes.' - Raymond Z. Gallun, 1936. (re: Raymond Z Gallun)

Autonomous Cars In Snow? Ford, University Of Michigan Say Yes!
'Under the guidance of its automatic controls...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1976 (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Martian Concrete, Rich In Sulphur, Made After Arrival
'We have been mining steadily, and making some photocells...' - John W. Campbell, 1951. (re: John W. Campbell)

XYZprinting 3D Pen Used, Reviewed By Terrible Artist
'Plastic comes out of the end of the drawing arm and hardens...' - Murray Leinster, 1945. (re: Murray Leinster)

ShotSpotter Gunshot Location Tech Expands Coverage
'Sound trackers on the roof could zero in on weapons action...' - Greg Bear, 2007. (re: Greg Bear)

Israel Working On Tunnel Detection Snake Robots
'...At the front end is a hard-edged orifice that drills a hole in the ground.' - Harry Harrison, 1962. (re: Harry Harrison)

Livescribe 3 Black Edition Smartpen
Yes, Thunderbird fans, you've seen this one before! (re: Various)

The 'Internet Of Touch' For Telemedicine
'Immediately an enormous apparatus fell on to her out of the ceiling...' - EM Forster, 1909. (re: EM Forster)

LG's Rollable Newspaper Display
'A wide sheet of clear material suddenly flared with light and swirling colour....' - EC Tubb, 1958. (re: EC Tubb)

Robotic Suitcase Follows You
'The machine would carry his bag in its soft plastic jaws and follow him as faithfully as a well-trained hound...' (re: John Brunner)

Robotic Guide Dogs May Displace Fido
'The mechanical Hound slept but did not sleep, lived but did not live...' - Ray Bradbury, 1953 (re: Ray Bradbury)

Will OpenAI Have High Ethical Standards?
Loyal Bolos are still in the future. (re: Keith Laumer)

Tokyo Shimizu Mega-City Pyramid
'...the Sense/Net Pyramid screamed.' - William Gibson, 1984. (re: William Gibson)

Nima Portable Gluten Tester
'... the unobtrusive inspections with tiny remote-cast snoopers...'- Frank Herbert, 1965. (re: Frank Herbert)

LONald 'Contract Robot' First In UK
'The law clerk arrived, a smallish robot...' - Frederik Pohl, 1954. (re: Frederik Pohl)

My Basic Income (Mein Grundeinkommen)
'Earned by just being born.'- Philip Jose Farmer, 1967. (re: Philip Jose Farmer)

Islamic State Now Organlegging?
'His heart went into storage immediately...' -Larry Niven, 1967. (re: Larry Niven)

Kollektomat Tithing Machine
'He pressed buttons cast in the likenesses of animals and demons...' - Roger Zelazny, 1965. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Strong Metal, Light Metal - Same Metal!
'A metal... light as cork and stronger than steel...' - Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1929. (re: Edgar Rice Burroughs)

The Secret of Longevity?
'if any one of them had had the grace to die at a reasonable age...' - Robert Heinlein, 1941. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Deep Speech 2: Mandarin and English Recognized
'the words came to the ear in perfect English...' - Frank Stockton, 1901. (re: Frank Stockton)

Robots Will Learn From Each Other
'Talk Between Robots radio...' - Frederik Pohl, 1954. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Bionic Eyes Coming Up In Australia
We can build a new you, if not rebuild you. (re: Various)

Army Wants Invisibility Cloaks
No, you can't see me. Nope, not here. (re: Ray Cummings)

Can Bacteria Provide Food In Space?
At least the scop was improving... - Bruce Sterling, 1988. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Fully Autonomous Vehicles In 2 Years - Musk
'The beautiful old car cruised... under the guidance of its automatic controls...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1976 (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

NASA Wants To Grow Potatoes On Mars
Will Martian potatoes turn out to be red skins? (re: Andy Weir)

Mattel Bug Racer Driven By Live Cricket
'With wheels they could move along... and manipulate with their fronds and tendrils.' - Vernor Vinge, 1992. (re: Vernor Vinge)

Netflix Smart Socks Know When You Doze Off
'Presently the speed control slipped out of her relaxed fingers, the lights went out and she slept.' - Robert Heinlein, (re: Robert Heinlein)

Do You Really Want Your Car To Talk To Pedestrians?
'Robots have worse problems than anybody' - Philip K. Dick, 1952. (re: Philip K Dick)

XSTAT 30 - Plugs Wounds In 15 Seconds!
'It's done miracles. It can patch up a smashed and broken body...' - Clifford Simak, (re: Clifford Simak)

Microsupercapacitors Make Wearable Electronics Disappear
'He pressed the button in his sleeve communicator...' - Murray Leinster, 1945. (re: Rudy Rucker)

NASA's Asteroid Redirect Mission
'[Asteroid] Eighty-eight received a series of gentle pats, always on the side headed along her course...' - Robert Heinlein, 1939. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Can You Give A Robot A Conscience?
Do roboticists have a conscience? I guess you could start with that. (re: Various)

California Proposes Ban On Driverless Vehicles
'She gestured him ahead of her, toward a bubble-car...'- Larry Niven, 1976. (re: Larry Niven)

3D Printing Microparticles
'Finest quality. Superior workmanship...' - Ridley Scott, 1982. (re: Ridley Scott)

Drone Catches Drone! In Japan
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995 (re: Neal Stephenson)

Space Synthetic Biology Grand Challenges
'What better purifying machine is there than a plot of grass?' - George O. Smith, (re: George O. Smith)

The Time-Traveling Quantum Computer
'His closed-timeline-curve time-travel computing machine.' Stephen Baxter, 2004. (re: Stephen Baxter)

Robots Should Start Out As Babies
'He is beginning to learn control of his limbs: it is apparent that he will walk before his human brother.' (re: David H. Keller)

Internet Needs 'Hate Spell Checker' - Eric Schmidt
'He adjusted the n, the r and b knobs, and hopefully anticipated a turn for the better...' - Philip K. Dick, 1964. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Hybrid Chips: Solid-State Device With Integrated Biological Cells
'Living protoplasm incorporated into the Ampek F-a2 recording system...' - Philip K. Dick, 1966 (re: Philip K. Dick)

Electrochromic FIlm For Smart Windows
'The glass had been muted to dark blue.' - Frank Herbert, 1972. (re: Frank Herbert)

Aerial Assault Drone Looking For Padme's Apartment
"I can sense everything that is happening in that room.' (re: )

Store Electricity In Paper - Next Stop, E-Paper!
'It looked exactly like a dirty, wrinkled, blank sheet of paper.' - Neal Stephenson, 1995. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Guide A Telepresence Robot With Your Mind
'The floor was hard and smooth and of a bright blue color and a very easy for him to roll on.' - Clifford Simak, 1961. (re: Clifford Simak)

MIT 3D Scanner - 1000x Improvement?
'... Feeler-planes brushed down...' - Jack Vance, 1954. (re: Jack Vance)

'It Feels Like Robocop - Without A Weapon
Gandhi's exoskeleton? (re: Fritz Leiber)

Naviator Drone Flies - And Swims
Every sub commander wants a Flying Sub! (re: Irwin Allen)

Niven's King's Free Park - In Toronto
'King's Free Park had been part of the San Diego Freeway...' - Larry Niven, 1970. (re: Larry Niven)

'Ingestibles' Are Medical Devices You Can Swallow
These devices get smaller and more capable. (re: Various)

Solowheel Xtreme Heinlein Tumblebug Video
'The cadets 'stood to horse' alongside their poised tumblebugs...' - Robert Heinlein, 1940. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Algorithm Predicts Marriage Success (HAL 9000 Will See You Now)
'I can tell from your voice harmonics, Dave, that you're badly upset....' - Arthur C. Clarke (re: Philip K Dick)

Denmark Island Earth (Verdenskortet ala Ringworld)
'They wanted to keep something of what they were losing...' - Larry Niven, 1970. (re: Larry Niven)

Humai Startup To Implant Your Brain In Robot Body
'The astounded onlookers saw a human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.' - Otis Adelbert Kline (re: Otis Adelbert Kline)

Blue Origin Reusable Rocket's Vertical Landing
We're getting there, one launch at a time. Nice going, Blue Origins! (re: Various)

X125 Snake-Arm Inspection Robot Video
'... long, flexible, glittering tentacles...' - HG Wells, 1898. (re: HG Wells)

Super-Thin Smart Glazing Displays
'...a wide sheet of clear material suddenly flared with light and swirling color.'- EC Tubb, 1958. (re: EC Tubb)

Have Scientists Found A Parallel Universe Leaking Into Ours
'Ellis had found a weak point, a shimmer, at which another continuum completely had been visible.' - Philip K. Dick, 1966. (re: Philip K Dick)

Active Wellness Smart Car Seat
'Maybe the car was right...' - Philip K. Dick, 1963. (re: Philip K Dick)

Tech Tats Prototype Sfnal Devices
'...Permanently fixed in the centre of his forehead.' - (re: Brian Aldiss)

ANNABELL AI Can Learn English From Scratch
'...Could understand not only classic programming but also Loglan and English..." - Robert Heinlein, 1966. (re: Robert Heinlein)

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