Sensory Substitution Device (Or Star Trek VISOR?)
Amazing device 'lights up' the visual cortex of the blind. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Archetype: Wake Up As Robot
'I can see my hand!' Wake up as a robot, in a film and in reality. Right now. (re: Various) |
NEOShield Asteroid Deflector Project Funded By EU
'It is similar to deflector panels I've seen, Captain, but far more complicated.' (re: Miles Breuer) |
Memory Improved By Direct Electrical Stimulation
Would you always keep the switch flipped on if you had this device installed? (re: Dave Cummins) |
Elektrodress Treatment Suit For Nerve Disorders
You may wish to be assimilated into our technological fashion collective. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Zero Gravity Roller Coaster Coming
Do you long to escape the bonds of Earth's gravity? This extreme roller coaster could do the trick. (re: Niven and Barnes) |
North Face (Or Snow Crash?) Avalanche Airbag Clothing
The Powder Guide ABS vest is just the thing for your active lifestyle, on and off the slopes. (re: Neal Stephenson) |
Robonaut ISS Checkout Video
Amazing video of a teleoperated robot on the International Space Station; sf authors saw this a half-century ago. (re: James Blish) |
Spidernaut, Orbital Construction Robot
Spider robots are designed to distribute the load over many feet. (re: Charles Sheffield) |
Google Glasses With Heads Up Display Coming Soon?
Google certainly has the information network to back up these glasses, and make augmented reality ... a reality. (re: Charles Stross) |
3D Printer Used To Make Transplant Jawbone
A permanent replacement was printed for reconstructive surgery. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
We Live In A Space Cloud
SF writers are a little more concerned about space clouds than most astronomers. (re: Arthur Conan Doyle) |
Nano Quadrotors Form Stephenson's Dog Pod Grid
If you haven't seen this video, it's a remarkable implementation of an sfnal idea. (re: Neal Stephenson) |
Amazonian Fungus Eats Polyurethane
I guess I'd still like to know what the fungus breaks plastic down into. (re: Michael Crichton) |
Kissenger The Kiss Messenger Robot Spreads Your Love
'Sensory stimulation through the tactile net, Man Forrester...' (re: Frederic Pohl) |
Self-Guided Bullet Accurate Over One Mile
'The back half is all solid propellant. Valves for directional control ... look, it's all electronic.' (re: Michael Crichton) |
Sensorbot Robotic Bubble Swarm For Ocean Exploration
'Sensor swarms operating autonomously could function in complex, harsh, and remote environments.' (re: Robert Silverberg) |
Jumping Spiders And Machine Vision
I'd never heard of this method for determining depth of field. (re: Edmond Hamilton) |
Free Swimming Endoscope Capsule On 'Fantastic Voyage'
This technology keeps getting closer. (re: Isaac Asimov) |
FBI To Monitor Social Media
Have you been sharing everything on social networks? Guess who wants to be a lurker? (re: Various) |
Self-Healing Batteries
It would be better if our gadgets could simply repair themselves when broken (with video). (re: J.G. Ballard) |
Shrewbot Uses Whiskers As Sensors
See the video for a good example of how biomimicry can lead to uncanny mechanical imitations of nature. (re: Ray Bradbury) |
Cyborg Rats Have Digital Brain Parts
Someday, we'll have reprogrammable brain parts, which will come in handy. (re: William Gibson) |
T-Rays And Tricorders
Amazing miniaturization could lead to science-fictional devices. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Raincatch Raincoat Has Dune-Style Watertube And Catchpocket
'And us sipping our catchpockets the instant they show dewsparkle.' (re: Frank Herbert) |
IBM Now Stores 1 Bit On 12 Atoms
Moore's Law still has some life left. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
RISUG Male Birth Control Almost Ready
So, guys, would you use this technology? (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Transparent Aluminum Vs. .50-Cal Bullets
Transparent armor can come in handy. (re: Olaf Stapledon) |
Van-Mounted Body Scanners Mock Your Idea Of Privacy
Scanning now for weapons, who knows what future scans will reveal about you? (re: Various) |
Live from ISS On NASA In HD
SF fans are familiar with this idea. (re: Michael Swanwick) |
Bank Of America ATMs Are Now Truth Machines
John Brunner gave us the idea for this kind of data transparency. (re: John Brunner) |
Samsung Transparent Smart Window
HG Wells also had an idea like this, or was it Frank Herbert? (re: H.G. Wells) |
Slime Is Smarter Than You Think
Researchers are looking for Lord Running Clam. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Sphero Robot Ball Is Smartphone-Controlled
Remote-controlled robotic fun for you and your smartphone. (re: Various) |
US Army-Branded Gaming Peripherals
Last Starfighter, your peripherals are ready now! (re: Various) |
Qrio Robot Golfer
What's a fair handicap for a robot? (re: Frederik Pohl) |
Anti-Intoxicant Confers Quick Sobriety
Research with rats may have implications for human drinkers. (re: Harry Harrison) |
Smart E-Book System Outperforms Apple iBooks
Take a look at the video with this article, and decide for yourself whether this is better than the iPad. (re: Stanislaw Lem) |
Vermeer 3D Volumetric Touchable Display
Fun display from Microsoft Research, it produces free-floating three-dimensional holograms in mid-air. (re: Edmond Hamilton) |
Super-Strong Mouse 'Augments'
Could lead to treatments for muscle weakness. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Fear of Dentists App, iPhone-based Therapist
'The machines aren't ignorant of human psychology - far from it.' (re: James Blish) |
Hide An Event With Temporal Cloaking
What would you want to put in the 'time hole'? (re: Various) |
Hoverbike Is Stuff SF Dreams Are Made Of
Perhaps this reminds you of other sf favorites? (re: George Lucas) |
Taking Control Of Enemy Aircraft
Is this really possible, or is the Pentagon engaging in its own fictional creations? (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Wireless Mind Control Possible?
Where will remote mind control lead us? (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Diabetic Son? Parents Get Insulin Pump Tattoos
Loving parents support their child. (re: Paul di Filippo) |
Self-Balancing Electric Unicycle By MIT Student
'A tumblebug does not give a man dignity...' but it's a great idea for college students! (re: Robert Heinlein) |
T-Shirt Computing And Vinge's Wearables
The foundations are being laid for wearable textile computers. (re: Vernor Vinge) |
Hatch A Dinosaur From Birds Using Genetic 'Memory'
Sounds odd, but there is some good science here. (re: Michael Crichton) |
Netizens Should Search Moon Pix For Aliens
Would you be willing to spend a few minutes poring over old moon photos looking for aliens? (re: ) |
Prosthetic Vision Device ala Star Trek
Advances in vision prosthetics accelerate. (re: 2962) |
Can Lucid Dreaming Improve Physical Skills?
Attention dreamers! Lie down and start training. (re: Roger Zelazny) |
Solar Power Paint For Any Size Solar Cells
One coat solar paint can be applied to any conductive surface to create an instant solar cell. (re: Larry Niven) |
Total Recall Security Tunnels Proposed
'No wonder you're having nightmares, you're always watching the news.' (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Bios Urn Turns Your Ashes Into A Tree
You can live on, in an environmentally proper way. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
PKR-Inhibiting Drugs May Boost Memory
New research may lead to better long-term memories. (re: Paul di Filippo) |
DCS May Extinguish Fearful Memories
Can memories be erased? Is it possible to remove the fear component from a memory? (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Fembot OriHime Dances For You Video
'All the works in a girl-modeled case.' With video. (re: Lester del Rey) |
Polymer Gel Mimics Human Vocal Cords
'They can even sing by squirting air through their meat.' (re: Terry Bisson) |
Could An Artificial Virus Infect The Human Mind?
Does artificial biology go to far? (re: Various) |
Majel Voice Recognition - Now Google's Getting Siri-us
See (and hear) the video with excerpts from all of the different 'Majel the computer' voices. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
Tasty In Vitro Meat Eaten On Stage!
Fried in a pan, no less. (re: Pohl and Kornbluth) |
DecNef: Download Skills Into Your Brain
Click here to download your next career. (re: James Blish) |
Cables For Robot Skin Will Stretch Like Human Skin
And how far will your skin stretch? About 1.5 times. (re: Roger Zelazny) |
We Robot 2012 Conference Needs Your Help
'We seek reports from the front lines of robot design and development.' (re: Various) |
Are We As Smart As We Can Get?
Can cognition be improved for humans - can we get smarter? (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Apple Idea Accelerator (tm) Coming!
Designed to accelerate idea creation, the Apple Campus 2 is a cyclotron of innovation! (re: Various) |
Basement Holodeck With Playstation Move And EyeToy
'Almost every home had its dimensino room, rigged with the apparatus which picked up the weird, alien impulses...' (re: Ray Bradbury) |
Quadrotor Robots Improve Building Skills Video
I can think of construction tasks these bots can do right now! (re: James P. Hogan) |
DARPA Shredder Challenge Won!
In which DARPA creates a 'Who can put Humpty Dumpty back together again' challenge for document mavens. (re: Vernor Vinge) |
Woolly Mammoths To Be Created For 'Pleistocene Park'?
Will mammoths thunder down the plains, as they once did? (re: David Brin) |
Kinect 2 Could Read Lips - Like HAL
Don't talk about disconnecting your Kinect 2 in front of your Kinect 2. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Multigait Soft Robot Squishes, Walks And Crawls
Simple actuation, complex motion. (re: Rudy Rucker) |
Little Printer Like Dick's Homeopape
SF greats Philip K. Dick and Hugo Gernsback both thought of this idea. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Mask-bot Robot Human Face
I'm imagining a very bizarre teleconference. (re: Isaac Asimov) |
Space Solar Power - A Truly Limitless Source
SF writers popularized and elaborated on this idea a generation before the first patents were filed. (re: Murray Leinster) |
Surveillance Robots Learn To Hide
This robot listens for the sound of footfalls, and then hides. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Robot Prison Guard From South Korea
'They are helpers... not Terminators.' (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Computer Knows You're Mad, Chills You Out
Those irritating computerized voice recognition systems may make you less annoyed. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Virtual Reality Contact Lens Shows One Pixel
SF authors have led the way on this idea; fans of Vernor Vinge and Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, rejoice! (re: Niven and Barnes) |
'Loogie Gun' Deployed On Pennsylvania Turnpike
Ever been stuck on the highway? (re: Neal Stephenson) |
DARPA's 'Biometrics-At-A-Distance' Knows You By Heart
Your heart is calling out to DARPA, just like E.T.'s heart called out to the mothership. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Interactive Robotic Painting Machine Can Hear You
Like a blind artist, it creates based on what it hears. (re: William Gibson) |
WAM Arm Robots Help Patients Get Dressed
Take me into your caring robotic arms. (re: Stanton Coblentz) |
Project Black Mirror Thought-Controlled iPhone
Think and communicate - with Siri on your iPhone. (re: Pournelle & Niven) |
C-Path Computational Pathologist Better Than Doctors
Computerized systems keep getting better; one day they may be better than human doctors. (re: Larry Niven) |
Meeting Wendy Of Wendy's
Wendy of Wendys meet Rondald of McDonald's. (re: Alfred Bester) |
Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surface
Get the last little bit from containers, thanks to materials science. (re: Frank Herbert) |
Laser-Activated Rescue Thrusters For Astronauts
Make sure those pod bay doors are open, too. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
HAL Exoskeleton To Assist At Fukushima
Maybe atomic-powered lifting suits are not quite right for this mission. With video. (re: John W. Campbell) |
Lab-Grown Burger $345K
Soon, you'll be able to have it your way. (re: H. Beam Piper) |
NTT DoCoMo Auto Japanese - English Translation
Close to real time translation service lets you converse in either language. (re: Hugo Gernsback) |
Airdrop Moisture Vaporator
'A vaporator sunk securely through sand and into deeper rock.' (re: George Lucas) |
NASA's Super-Black Now Even Blacker
'Our material is darn near perfect across multiple wavelength bands, from the ultraviolet to the far infrared.' (re: E.E. 'Doc Smith) |
Nth Lights From NthDegree Are 'Printed Lights'
Let there be light, and let it be flat. (re: Isaac Asimov) |
Giant Asteroid Misses Earth!
Whew, that's a relief. It did come inside the orbit of the Moon, though. (re: Niven and Pournelle) |
Slug Crawler Robot Has Retractable Skin
Its flexible skin is manipulated by internal robotic parts. (re: Various) |
SLS Robot Spider 'Daddy Longlegs'
I'm hoping they make these available in kit form. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
Marie Curie's Papers Still Radioactive
And the half-life of radium's most common isotope is 1,601 years. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
Magnetic 'Tongue' Can Taste Tomatoes
How else will robots enjoy pizza? (re: Anthony Boucher) |
Korean Talking Robotic Head
Another strange robotic head, that may come to a classroom near you. Some day. (re: William Gibson) |
Smart Textiles For Wearable Communicators
'Antenna clothing' for all occasions. (re: Murray Leinster) |
PETMAN Robot Video
Wear in (and wear out) your clothes robotically. (re: Frederic Pohl) |
Multi-Target Photo-Radar System
No more safety in numbers when speeding, thanks to this Cordon system. (re: John Jacob Astor IV) |
Switchblade Surveillance Missile
'You've heard of a bullet that has your name on it.' (re: Michael Crichton) |
Worlds First Intelligent Absorbent For Radioactive Contaminants
The material uses titanate nanofiber and nanotube technology. (re: John W. Campbell) |
Throw This Panoramic Ball Camera!
Let's hope that it proves possible to manufacture this camera at a price at which we can afford it. (re: Robert Silverberg) |
Sensitive Artificial Skin For Touchy-Feely Robots
Let's face it, robots feel distanced and remote with their cold, metallic skin. Diligent researchers work to remedy this problem. (re: Roger Zelazny) |
BlueBiped Passively-Powered Robotic Legs
Take a walk, and let gravity be your energy source. (re: Martin Caidin) |
A Prosthetic Arm That Feels
Amazing next-generation work by surgeons and engineers catches up with last-generation science fiction imagination. (re: Martin Caidin) |
Gesture-Controlled iPads?
What do you think, you're some kind of Jedi, waving your hands in the air? (re: Samuel R. Delany) |
'Supra B 'Toys Soon Self-Healing
Toy, heal thyself. (re: J.G. Ballard) |
Spray-Foam Robot Built By... Another Robot
Now robots can make your sfnal robot dreams come true. (re: Gene Roddenberry) |
New Transistor Interfaces Directly With Biological Functions
Talk directly to the malfunctioning processes in your body. Someday is getting sooner. (re: Various) |
See People Through Walls
You (and your imaginative proxies, sf writers) have been trying to see through walls for a long time. (re: John W. Campbell) |
Artificial Muscles Made From Carbon Nanotube Yarn
This research could lead to miniaturized electric motors, compressors, and turbines. (re: Martin Caidin) |
Flex, The First Portable VeinViewer
Michael Crichton actually thought of this idea forty years ago. (re: Michael Crichton) |
Use Steganography by Printed Arrays of Microbes For Secret Messages!
Secret writing always fascinated me; modern biology offers improvements. (re: Paul McEuen) |
Automated Biology Explorer (ABE), Robot Scientist
Remarkable strides taken in the autonomous exploration of nature. (re: John M. Faucette) |
Raytheon Sarcos Exoskeletonized Ditch Witch
Now I can really take on those backyard chores. (re: Robert Heinlein) |
SMELL-IT 'Surround Sound' For The Nose
Smell-o-Vision! One day, we'll breathe deeply of our favorite movie or game. (re: Aldous Huxley) |
FAST Program AIs Search For Human 'Malintent'
Passive biometric information gathering, also known as covert sampling, is on the rise. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Space Habitat Has Inflatable Loft
Tested in a pretty good substitute for Mars, the moon and even asteroids, found right here in the USA. (re: Arthur C. Clarke) |
10 Exotic Human-Energy Harvesting Devices And Technologies
Presented all on one page! and yet, profusely illustrated. (re: Frank Herbert) |
Generate Elecricity From Breathing With Microbelt PVDF Device
Unique method of harvesting energy from low speed airflows will have many applications. (re: Frank Herbert) |
How Smart Is Siri?
Another Pohl prediction comes true, right on time. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
iCub Crawling Robot
iCub may seem to be taking a step backward, but it's all human development. (re: Brian Aldiss) |
Panasonic Hair-Washing Robot
It's the extra fingers that make this robot worth upgrading to. (re: Philip K. Dick) |
Steve Jobs 1955-2011
Steve Jobs was a one-of-a-kind visionary whose creations had a profound effect on my life. Rest in peace. (re: Various) |
Princeton's Magic Carpet
I never thought I'd be writing a story about this one. (re: Dan Simmons) |
AlphaDog Proto Stronger, Quieter Than BigDog
I'm waiting for someone at Boston Dynamics to realize that regular people would like something like this on hikes. (re: Anthony Boucher) |
PETMAN Bipedal Robot Tests Your Future
Now, we need to get this robot to test consumer products - and then, to consume them. Then you and I can relax. (re: Frederik Pohl) |
Blacker-Than-Black Corrugated Metamaterials
This idea also fascinates sf authors; can you think of sfnal materials that are darker than black? (re: E.E. 'Doc Smith) |
Bolshoi: Largest Computer Simulation Of The Universe
'A machine able literally to contain the Universe Itself within it's innumerable memory banks.' (re: Stanislaw Lem) |
Warrior Web: Superman Underwear From DARPA
With quasi-passive regenerative actuation technologies! (re: Joe Haldeman) |
Drones Stick Tight, Remember Your Face
This technology makes drones smarter. (re: Jack Vance) |
BOLT Bipedal Ornithopter Robot
Remarkable video shows progress in flapping wing robotic MAVs. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun) |
Autom Weight Loss Robot Ready
This device can help all of us with our fitness goals. (re: Clamp) |
The Garbage Mines Of Ghana
'They break down electronics with hammers and hands.' (re: David Brin) |
Self-Propelled 'Microrobots' For The Blood Stream
Keep your fingers crossed, Fantastic Voyage fans. Your day will come. (re: Isaac Asimov) |
LOBIN Intelligent T-Shirts
At some point, we'll all wear intelligent t-shirts. (re: Rudy Rucker) |
Living Bridges Grown From Trees
Some are one hundred feet in length, and support up to fifty people at a time. (re: Jack Vance) |
Smart Window Goes Clear Or Opaque In Seconds
Warmer in winter, cooler in summer, manufactured in a non-toxic manner - what's not to like? (re: Frank Herbert) |
E-Health Point Telemedicine In Rural India
Amazing story of a medical start-up that provides affordable health care services in rural India. (re: EM Forster) |
Electric Brain Stimulation Quickens Learning
Faster learning is as close as the nearest electrical outlet. (re: James Blish) |
'Bubble Galaxy' NGC 3521
This doesn't have to do with prediction, but I love what sf writers do with this idea. (re: Edmond Hamilton) |
AI Chatbots Teach English Online
Manga-style online 'chat robots' will help people learn English, 24x7. (re: Isaac Asimov) |
Printed Artificial Capillary Blood Vessels
We need these for the lager, more complex artiforgs we've already made. (re: Larry Niven) |
Super Bainite Armor Steel
'There's a sheet of just plain Nothing between us and it's impenetrable.' (re: Theodore Sturgeon) |
Stratospheric Particle Injection for Climate Engineering Project
Save the planet from global warming the all-natural way. Is there such a thing as geomimicry? (re: Neal Stephenson) |
