Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Futurism.
Science Fiction: Science as Craft
Writing is a craft. We talk of crafting a story, and of wordsmiths who forge metaphors from the white heat of their imaginations. The creation of fiction, therefore, involves a process akin to that of making art. This process involves the mind constructing a fabrication which will more clearly define our reality, or even go beyond our understanding of what reality is.
By Nadia Davidson9 years ago in Futurism
Sir Hans Sloane, Magic Mirrors and the British Museum
The British Museum collection began with the intellectual curiosity of an Irish doctor called Sir Hans Sloane. He began collecting when he was working in Jamaica, as a physician to the governor. He returned to London in 1689 and continued collecting. He was a very wealthy and successful doctor. His patients included the diarist Samuel Pepys and Queen Anne. Soon his house in Bloomsbury Place was overflowing with ‘plants, fossils, minerals, zoological, anatomical and pathological specimens, antiquities …prints, drawings and coins, books and manuscripts.’ His collecting got so out of control that he had to buy the house next door. When that house was full he moved to a new house in Chelsea!
By Christine Alford9 years ago in Futurism
Exoplanet Update: NASA Releases New Kepler Data
NASA released the latest data from the Kepler space telescope project. A total of 219 objects were identified as new planet candidates. More significantly, 10 of those were determined to be possible Earth-like exoplanets which orbit their star at a distance called the habitable zone, where water could exist in a liquid state.
By Anya Wassenberg9 years ago in Futurism
The Game
"Hello?" I called, looking into the darkness. There was no light or sound. "Is someone there?" I called out again. I had no memory of how I had gotten here or where I was. I went to take a step forward, hoping that maybe I could find a way out of here when the ground there disappeared. Splashing noises echoed around me as I caught myself from falling into the knee deep water.
By gillian pajor9 years ago in Futurism
Outrun Stories #25
“The easy way out?” she asks herself, cruising along the Pacific coast highway, top down, the moist night blowing through her thick hair. “Is there ever any easy way out?” She flicks her cigarette away and watches the embers melt into the night. “I’ve started something here, and now I’ve got to finish it.”
By Outrun Stories9 years ago in Futurism
Mesozoic
MESOZOIC Book 1 of 3 Written by Dan Black Prelude: Intrusion Quiet. That’s the first thing they noticed about this new world. It was quiet. They came from a different world where it was alive. Not that this world was not. It was alive. From the sounds of the trees groaning in the wind and the insects buzzing as they tried to steal a meal from these warm-blooded intruders, the world was very much alive. Even through the darkness of the night. But the intruders were used to the sounds of city traffic and horns blaring. The sights of millions of lights all around them on a consistent basis. This place. This world was not alive by any means to them. It was quiet.
By D.C. Black9 years ago in Futurism
Birdhead Father in Brightness
When Birdhead Father found the box baby (as his name in that moment went from being "Birdhead" to "Birdhead Father") the problem was his (literal) birdhead moved independently as a (literal) bird's might, and the more excited he got (and becoming a father for the first time was certainly exciting) the more wild became the thrashing of the birdhead. He was practiced in piecing together disparate images, but anything new to his well-pieced-together routine was an extra mystery, so images of his new son came to him in shattered pieces. Now was the time he most wanted and most needed to concentrate, but his head wouldn't let him.
By F. Simon Grant9 years ago in Futurism
