Science Fiction in the News:
Science and Technology News

One-Way Human Mission To Mars
Plans to colonize other planets have stalled; maybe we should just go for it. (re: Various)

ACM-R4H Snake Robot Duct Inspector
It can slither and undulate and even raise its head like a cobra. (re: Various)

Babies Treat Robots Like Human Beings
If babies accept expressive robots as friends, would they accept robots as nannies? (re: Philip K. Dick)

Dancing HRP-4C Robot Uncanny Valley Girl
This robotic dancer is a real trouper; 'her' movements are artful and realistic. (re: Various)

Army Wrist Display Uses 4.3 Inch OLED
Field trials of this thin, lightweight and ruggedized communications device are underway. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Undersea Mining With Nautilus Minerals Seafloor Production System
Nautilus Minerals is developing the first seafloor gold and copper exploration and mining operation. (re: Jules Verne)

AutoNOMOS Robotic Taxi Called By iPad App
This modified VW Passat can be called and controlled with an iPad. (re: Philip K. Dick)

When Do I Get My Language Rectifier?
Two giant corporations, each with their own approach to the problem, each with vast resources. (re: Hugo Gernsback)

SBU Self Balancing Unicycle Perfected In V2.0
Revolutionary device now in its second iteration; comfortable, fast and environmentally responsible transportation is ready today. (re: Robert Heinlein)

MIT Glider Lands On a Perch Like A Bird
This little glider has an amazing biomimetic feature. (re: Roger Zelazny)

MovieReshape Like Bruce Sterling's Video-Manicuring
Impressive video shows what can be accomplished with image manipulation. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Berkeley Bionics eLEGS Exoskeleton
Exoskeletons will be available in US clinics early next year. (re: Fritz Leiber)

Google's Autonomous Robotic Car
Self-driving cars have put over 140,000 miles on the road. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Sony Internet TV Foreseen In 1946
'It looks like a vision-receiver used to, only it's got keys instead of dials and you punch the keys for what you wanna get.' (re: Murray Leinster)

Earth's Alien Life Forms In Avatar
Sometimes sf writers draw inspiration from the alien life forms present right here on our own planet. (re: James Cameron)

Stretchable Electronic Skin Input Device Video
Let your fingers do the walking - on your own skin. (re: John Varley)

Fujitsu Social Robot Bear Video
Soon, this little robot will be ready for grandma and grandpa - or the grand kids. (re: Harry Harrison)

NEC Billboard Minority Report-Style
John Anderton - I'm a billboard, and I can guess your gender, age and ethnicity while you walk by, and show you an appropriate ad. (re: Steven Spielberg)

NELL Computer Learns To Surf The Web For Facts
This computer spends more time on the Internet than you do. (re: Robert Heinlein)

eXistenZ iPhone Charger Cable
This umbilical cord-inspired iPhone charger may make you think about Halloween early this year. (re: Various)

Permanent Mechanical Heart A First For Children
Philip K. Dick talked about artificial mechanical organs almost sixty years ago. (re: Philip K. Dick)

MobilePay USA Credit Card App For Smartphones
Frederik Pohl called this one in 1965 - just one of the characteristics of his prescient joymaker concept. (re: Frederik Pohl)

DEMON UAV Has No Moving Flaps
Successful demonstration of 'flapless flight' in this unmanned aerial vehicle. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Habitable Planet Gliese 581g Is A 'Ribbon World'
Asimov described planets like this one as 'ribbon worlds' and extolled the virtues of their unusual microclimates. (re: Isaac Asimov)

XOS 2 Raytheon Gen 2 Exoskeleton For Ironman 2
Iron Man, your new suit awaits! (re: Fritz Leiber)

Festo Bionic Handling Assistant Video
Terrific video presents Festo's robotics work, as described by the engineers who created it. (re: H.G. Wells)

Suspended Animation For Surgery Patients
Chill out - you'll live longer. (re: Edward Page Mitchell)

iCub Robot ARCHER Gets Weapons Training
This little iCub humanoid robot learned to shoot a bow and arrow by itself. Just a bow and arrow. For now. (re: Various)

Panasonic Robotic Care Assistance With Wheelchair
Robotic aids for your old age are on the way, America. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

First Artificial Human Ovary
The Social Predestination Room is down two doors, on the left. (re: Aldous Huxley)

Deleting Gene Makes Mice Smarter
'I dint know mice were so smart.' Charley Gordon, in Flowers For Algernon. (re: Daniel Keyes)

Brain Coprocessor Platform Needed
Do we need a Brain Implant Operating System? (re: William Gibson)

Assault Intervention Device - A Pain Ray Gun
Should this device be used in the United States? (re: Ray Cummings)

PIRO Window Washing Robot
Nicely implemented window washing robot perfect for those vertical surfaces. (re: Robert Heinlein)

VW Talking Newspaper Ad
The newspapers have finally started talking back. (re: Greg Bear)

Brother AirScouter Retinal Imaging Display Video
Remarkable technology presaged sixty years earlier in The Space Merchants, by Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth. (re: Pohl/Kornbluth)

Memory-Erasing Drugs
Do you have memories that you would rather not be able to access? This researcher has a possible technique. (re: Jack Vance)

'Air Hopper' Robot Grasshopper
This robot has some leaping ability, for use on uneven terrain. (re: Bruce Sterling)

Prototype Lunar Greenhouse
Interesting concept from the University of Arizona; Robert Heinlein went a bit further in his thinking, particularly from the standpoint of recycling. (re: Robert Heinlein)

Core Bipedal Robotic Vehicle
With a bit more quickness, you'll be thinking that the AT-ST walkers from Star Wars were coming to life. (re: George Lucas)

HRP-4 Robot Is Lean, Athletic
HRP-4 dispels your mental image of robots as slow and ponderous. (re: Various)

Kiss ME Device For Kiss Communication
A novel hi-fidelity physical interface for transferring a remote and mediated kiss in real-time. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Fabrican Spray-On T-Shirt Video
This video recently turned up; Stanislaw Lem nailed this idea almost fifty years ago. (re: Stanislaw Lem)

Rail-Launched Scramjets To Space
NASA looks forward to cutting edge retrofuture strategies for space launches. (re: Wylie and Balmer)

2011 Federal Virtual Worlds Challenge Announced
Here's your open challenge, world readers. The focus is on artificial intelligence. (re: Various)

Robots Learn To Understand Outdoor Scenes
Robots like Philip K. Dick's leadies need this kind of capability, if they are to serve on the surface of the wide Earth. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Robot Skin Detects Your Gentle Caress
You want your robot to be this sensitive; don't miss the extra links to learn about robot skin as soft as yours. (re: Roger Zelazny)

Remote Control Of Brain Activity
How can we ensure the alertness of Warfighters? Reduce stress, enhance cognition and reduce experienced pain? (re: Vernor Vinge)

iPad For Radiologists?
Does the iPad really have what it takes to be a science fiction medical tablet computer? A radiologist takes a look. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Hubble Shows 'smoke wound in a tight spiral coil'
Larry Niven gave us a view decades before this Hubble photo. Thanks, Larry. (re: Larry Niven)

FrontlineSMS Legal Justice Via Cell Phone
These remote lawyer programs are just the start - wait until they come up with a 'virtual counsel'. (re: David Brin)

Swiss Thought-Controlled Wheelchair
More research on brain-controlled assistive devices; success for the Swiss. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Tractor Beam Works Over Longer Distances
Still a prototype, and it only works in an atmosphere. But still, we're making progress. (re: E.E. 'Doc' Smith)

Brian Robot Reads Your Emotions, Then Creeps You Out
'I can tell from your voice harmonics, Dave, that you're badly upset.' (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Life-sized Duplicate Of Deceased Girlfriend Manufactured
A grieving businessman purchases a companion manufactured to order. (re: Alice W. Fuller)

Laser-Powered Helicopter
Held aloft on a beam of light. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

First Cashless Society - In Somaliland?
Leave your wheelbarrow of cash at home. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Inflatable Lofts For NASA 'Campers' On Moon And Mars
I love it when I already have a good idea what NASA is looking for in a contest because I read about it decades ago in sf. (re: Larry Niven)

Artificial Kidney Prototype To Be Implantable
Artificial organs have been a science fiction staple for a long time; perhaps we'll see implantable mechanical organs soon. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Self-Healing Concrete Uses Bacteria For Healing
Is it possible that bacteria in buildings could play the role of your body's osteoblast cells - repairing their minor fractures? (re: J.G. Ballard)

Exmobaby Biosensor Pajamas For Baby
Hush little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna ... be watching you on her cell phone. (re: David H. Keller)

Apple Live Streaming Fail
In which Apple makes a promise and then fails to deliver. (re: Edmond Hamilton)

Re Google: William Gibson, Read More SF
It turns out that sf writers have imagined Google and Google's future plans rather precisely. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Nike's Air Kicks Back To The Future Power Laces
Marty McFly, your shoes are almost ready. (re: )

EggTorte Mini Micromouse
I really like the speed of this little learning robot. (re: Maurice A. Hugi)

Yale Aerial Manipulator Flying Robotic Hand
Just think of all the possible uses of a flying robotic hand. (re: Robert L. Forward)

M-Dress Has Phone, SIM Card And Antenna Embedded
This dress is a wearable phone. (re: Murray Leinster)

RG3 Robotic Greens Mower Is Sensor-Equipped
This sensor-equipped mower is nimble enough to avoid gophers on golf courses. (re: Clifford Simak)

Touch Sensor For Sensitive Robots
Honestly, who doesn't want a more sensitive robot? (re: Roger Zelazny)

Labor-Saving Centrifuge
'I made sure my left foot was positioned for the gravistat control and watched her belly.' (re: Robert Heinlein)

Aimec Child Robot Built By Childless Couple
This childless couple built themselves a robotic son. (re: Brian Aldiss)

Murdoch To Create Digital News-Paper
In which Rupert Murdoch demonstrates his mastery of future technology. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Yurina Care Robot Cure For Nurses' Strained Backs
If you can promise nurses 'no more strained backs' you'll get a sale. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

Robotic Wheelchair Autonomously Follows Walking Companion
This prototype device could make life easier for people who must use wheelchairs to get around. (re: John Brunner)

Ignition Interlock Required For NY Drunk Drivers
'It had been a bad night, and when he tried to drive home he had a terrible argument with his car.' (re: Philip K. Dick)

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. (re: Jack Vance)

Google's 'Omega Man' Street View Solution
The Last Man on Earth is Not Alone. (re: )

Vivos Shelter Network Survivalist Luxury
'A family would be safe, even comfortable, during the most severe H-bomb and bacterial-spray attack.' (re: Philip K. Dick)

Neurochip A Living Brain On A Silicon Chip
'The Ganymedean life form ... had not yet objected to being made over into a portion of an electronic system.'- Philip K. Dick (re: Philip K. Dick)

Vine Pruning Robots In New Zealand
'Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thy robot shalt prune thy vineyard.' (Note) (re: Philip K. Dick)

Smart Ball Android Spherical Robot
Use your Android phone to control this bot. Article includes a spherical robot video roundup! (re: Various)

Tiered Internet: Google/Verizon Deal/No Deal
Is net neutrality over? (re: John Brunner)

Gamers Outperform Algorithms At Competitive Protein Folding
Which would you rather tell people? I played Starcraft all night, or I helped design a new vaccine last night? (re: Various)

Make Money With Artificial Intelligence
'I've learned not to question the AI.' Advice to take to the bank - or famous last words? (re: Larry Niven)

'Intuitive Navigation' Augmented Reality For Smartphones
Find your way around the natural, intuitive way. With your smartphone. (re: Various)

Improve MAVs By Studying Bees In Flight
Nature has solved the problem of flight by tiny machines; let's see how She did it. (re: Neal Stephenson)

Telenoid R1 Uncanny Telepresence Robotics
Is this the kind of presence that you want to project teletronically? (re: Philip K. Dick)

Robotic Tentacle Manipulator
HG Wells described snake-like tentacle manipulators in his 1898 classic War of the Worlds. And what does this device look like if you turn it upside down? (re: H.G. Wells)

Robot Surgeons To Be Fully Autonomous
'Facing him from behind the desk was the surgeon The nameplate on the desk included a fully identifying series of letters and numbers... To call him Doctor would be quite enough.' (re: Isaac Asimov)

Did Arthur C. Clarke Predict GPS?
'But as for details of frequencies and powers, I'll have to leave that to the experts to work out; I'll get on with my science fiction and wait to say -I told you so!' (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Telepresence Robot Roundup With Anybot
The field of telepresence robotics is starting to heat up; take a look at this roundup to see the variety of functions performed. (re: Niven and Pournelle)

Biofuel From Algae
Can we improve the ability of algae to produce material we need? Should we? (re: Hal Clement)

Ice Formation At Room Temperature Is Possible With New Material
This technology will have a number of practical implications. Busy, busy, busy, says Bokonon. (re: Kurt Vonnegut)

Pancake-Flipping Robot Learns By Example
Can you flip a pancake? This robot learned how in only fifty tries. (re: Anthony Boucher)

MIT's Cornucopia Digital Robotic Food Concept
Digital food the modern way. In concept, at least. (re: John W. Campbell)

Making Drone Aircraft Smarter
If you want smarter planes, why not just give them the brains of a pilot? (re: Peter Watts)

'Invisibles' Provides Tactile Feedback For VR
This is just the kind of prototype system that could give you you virtual reality world. (re: David Brin)

Ecobot III Robot Seeks Out Organic Food
Little Ecobot has continued to evolve, navigating to it's nutrient sources. (re: Various)

Amazon Sells More Ebooks Than Hardcovers
'I spent the afternoon in a bookstore. There were no books in it.' (re: Stanislaw Lem)

AQUA2 Underwater Robot With Flippers
Flipper-powered autonomous underwater vehicle. (re: Michael Swanwick)

ChouChou Butterfly Robot
Highly realistic mechanical insect. (re: Harlan Ellison)

Pharmed Blood Is DARPA's Tru Blood
Artificially produced blood for transfusions is on its way. (re: Various)

Ikaros Solar Sail Works!
The first push from sunlight has been felt by Japan's Ikaros spacecraft. (re: Jack Vance)

Terahertz Remote Sensing Detectors
See through walls, containers and clothes from hundreds of feet away - and identify the unique signature of different substances. (re: E.E. 'Doc' Smith)

Computational Journalism The Homeostatic Newspaper
Philip K. Dick has already plumbed the depths of what computers can do for us in creating (and peddling) the news. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Solar Impulse Completes Night Flight
Recharge by day, fly by night. Solar Impulse completes a 26-hour journey. (re: John W. Campbell)

FURO Waitress Robot
It's the latest tech from Dex's Diner in Star Wars! Well, almost. (re: George Lucas)

Canon Wonder Camera Concept
Why do big companies insist on intruding on the domain of sf writers? Philip K. Dick has this concept beat, hands down. (re: Philip K. Dick)

NTT Real-Time Voice Transcriber
Note-taking in long boring meetings will be a thing of the past, thanks to NTT. (re: David H. Keller)

Lung On A Chip - Electronics Plus Human Cells
This device combines living human cells with electronics; can Philip K. Dick's swibble-culture be far behind? (re: Philip K. Dick)

Unlimited Urban Woods - A Forest In A Box
What's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside? Maybe this box. (re: Various)

Robots Everywhere From Cell Phone Electronics
Maybe phones don't need the fictional All Spark to perform amazing feats. (re: Various)

Power Laces From Back To The Future 2
Marty McFly, your auto-lacing shoes are almost ready. With video. (re: Various)

Waterfall Display Technology
Will this nifty multi-layered droplet display replace your flat panel TV? It has to be more refreshing on hot July days. (re: Various)

Real-Life Minority Report Interface Presentation Video
Amazing implementation of the display from the Spielberg movie; not surprisingly, he also helped on the creation of the movie. (re: Steven Spielberg)

Could Blimps Replace Planes For Cargo?
SF writers haven't given up on dirigibles, neither should we. (re: Jerry Pournelle)

KrioRus Brain Freeze Technology
Frozen head buffs take heart from Russian firms ready to save them. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Tempwave: Raytheon Plowshares Energy Weapon
'They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.' And their energy weapons into grape-warmers? (re: Philip K. Dick)

Self-Folding 'Origami Robot' Smart Sheet
Updated! What science-fictional devices could you make with this real-life technology? (re: William Gibson)

Perching Flying Robot
This robot can perch until needed, saving energy for the mission. Which is to help people. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Fortune-Telling Robotic Vending Machine
Now updated ! 'He who reads many Technovelgy articles will have a happy life.' (re: Philip K. Dick)

Italian Scientists Who Failed To Predict Quake Indicted For Manslaughter
Is quake prediction still in the realm of science fiction? Italian prosecutors don't think so, apparently. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Unilever Smile-Based Ice Cream Vending Machine
Smile! You're about to get some ice cream from this face-recognition, proximity detecting, smile-measuring vending machine. (re: Douglas Adams)

'Sandfish' Robot Moves Through Sand
Take a look at this video of a biomimetic sand-burrowing robot. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Large Flexible Plastic Sheet Displays
'Ginormous displays' are on the way from Hewlett Packard. (re: E.C. Tubb)

Google Seeks Pohl's Joymaker Voice Recognition
In which Google's Vic Gundotra describes the pursuit of the perfect smartphone - which is starting to sound a lot like Frederik Pohl's joymaker. (re: Frederik Pohl)

EPI Life First ECG Mobile Phone
The world's first cell phone with a built-in ECG monitor. (re: Arthur C. Clarke)

Hyperion Robot Walking Chair
I seem to recall a similar robotic walking chair in a Star Wars movie. (re: George Lucas)

Paro Robot Seal Helps Grandma
Robotic baby harp seals are slowly wiggling their way into American nursing homes. A good idea? Or a phildickian idea? (re: Anne McCaffrey)

Stem Cells From Fat May Heal Bones
A special gel made from a soldier's own stem cells may be able to effect better healing of broken bones. (re: Clifford Simak)

EMIEW2 Roller Skating Robot
And why shouldn't a robot be able to rollerskate? At up to 3.7 miles per hour. (re: Various)

Charlie Health Care Robot For Kiwis
Health care robots are starting to appear all over the world. Now, New Zealand. (re: Katsuhiro Otomo)

Taekwondo Robot Fighting In South Korea
Robots square off in martial arts action! Sounds good to me. (re: Various)

Suspended Animation Works in Lab (With Nematodes)
Cold sleep is a science fiction standard; can metabolic processed be halted for even a short period? (re: Robert Heinlein)

Belvedere The Robot Butler
Great video of a DIY butler robot; watching the little boy react to it will make your day. (re: Frederik Pohl)

Handheld Fashion Kinetoscope Appliance Found
I think Wells got this one pretty much right more than one hundred years ago. Except now, you can own one yourself. (re: H.G. Wells)

LuminAR Bulb And Robot Lamp Frees Trapped Pixels
Remarkable prototype camera/projector fits in a bulb's outlet and sets your information free, putting it on any surface you want. (re: Various)

'Retina Display' SFnally Perfect (Almost)
Just how good is Apple's retina display Does it meet the needs of science fiction writers? (re: Ray Bradbury)

Scarab Robotic Chase Vehicle Concept
An all-electric chase vehicle for use by police. Sounds like a science-fictional concept to me. (re: Daniel Suarez)

eyeSight Gesture Control Of Android Phones
A wave of your hand controls your phone - and it can be used for gaming, too. (re: Samuel R. Delany)

PLEASE Painless Laser Epidural System Like Trek Hypospray
And Variable laser deflection allows flexible formation of pore arrays. (re: Gene Roddenberry)

Aggressive Autonomous Quadrotor UAV Makes Its Moves
Robots are getting quicker, even the autonomous flying kind. (re: Philip K. Dick)

Could Robot Fish Lead Gulf Fish To Safety?
This little robofish has all of the characteristics of a leader - and can really lead schools of fish to safety! (re: Michael Swanwick)

Internet Addiction Growing?
You can log off anytime you want to - right? (re: Dan Simmons)

Your Telemedicine Future
Vashti, your telemedicine apparatus is almost ready, thanks to physicians and Internet technicians. (re: E.M. Forster)

Nanoparticle Tattoo Monitors Blood Glucose
An 'ink' of nanoparticles suspended under the skin could save millions of people the pain of daily needle pricks, and improve monitoring. (re: Paul Di Filippo)

SmartIris IDs People In Crowds
Surveillance of public spaces just got easier, thanks to this DARPA program. (re: Stephen Spielberg)

Japan's Humanoid Robot Moonbase Plan
Now settlers on the moon will have robotic neighbors - a famnextdo. (re: Philip K. Dick)

SmartCap Detects Fatigue
Although I think it needs a buzzer for home use, this device could save lives. (re: Philip K. Dick)

SCRAM Anklet For Lindsay Lohan
This ankle bracelet uses transdermal alcohol monitoring to keep track of miscreants. (re: Philip K. Dick)

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