Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Futurism.
Interstellar and Orbit Pavilion
It was Friday morning. Through a sequence of synchronized events, I was taken on a strange journey to the Interstellar of my personal universe. An unexpected, spontaneous visit to one of my sanctuaries: The Huntington Library in Pasadena, California. The gardens are grounding with their spectacular natural exhibition, particularly in springtime when breathtaking wisterias in the Chinese garden and the Japanese ornamental quince are in the bloom.
By Shahram Farshadfar 9 years ago in Futurism
Could the TRAPPIST-1 Planetary System Be Home to Alien Life?
The discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1 generated a lot of excitement last week. Earth-sized planets have been found before, among the thousands of exoplanets discovered so far by astronomers, but this is the first time that so many have been detected in one planetary system. As of now, astronomers are limited in how much they can learn about these new worlds, but the James Webb Space Telescope, the upcoming successor to Hubble due to launch in 2018, will be able to gather more data and analyze whatever atmospheres these planets have, perhaps bringing us closer to finding another habitable world.
By Paul Scott Anderson9 years ago in Futurism
21/1/1967: Re-watching... The Underwater Menace – Part 2
My ongoing mission: to watch classic television fifty years after first broadcast... Back here in 1967 televisions weren’t as reliable as they would become, so despite my repeated thumping on the box I’ve been unable to get a picture since last October. And would you believe it, that coincides with all the episodes of Doctor Who which are missing from the archives in 2017! Cah, typical! So it might not come as a great surprise to you that this week my TV screen has suddenly flickered into life. And look: it’s Patrick Troughton as the new Dr Who! And now I can see Jamie too! Seeing this episode after so many audio only episodes has made me realise how much I must have missed out on, as watching Troughton is a very different experience to hearing a few lines from him. There have not really been any lengthy chunks of dialogue or great speeches from the new Doctor so it’s not easy to get a solid impression of the man. But I’m pleased to say he’s a joy to watch. I should also mention that this is genuinely the first time I’ve seen this episode.
By Nick Brown9 years ago in Futurism
Symbiote Chapter 1
The night sky rotated serenely as Xavier Thomas cruised down the I90W corridor well passed Hershey, Nebraska. The flat of the Great Plains seemed to go on forever, to every horizon. The sun had long since retired, and the temperature, which had been hot and muggy during the day, had become cold and moist in the darkness. Though Xavier had always preferred to be in small crowds, so there were less people to piss him off, this time, it was a bit different.
By daniel morris9 years ago in Futurism
Brutalist Stories #7
“Here, at the end of all things, and I still feel you. I’ve lost you, over and over again, so many times. Countless faces through the infinite, the same person, the one I was searching for…” he went silent, looking up to the light piercing the crumbling concrete, the sky outside on fire.
By Brutalist Stories9 years ago in Futurism
How Crowds of Humans Are Making AI Systems Scary-Smart
Perhaps you’ve heard about our brilliant artificially-intelligent future: self-driving cars, voice-based interfaces, instant translation, self-service chatbots – all based on software that simplifies and automates the complexities of life in the information age. It's a market that's predicted to grow to as large as $40 billion worldwide by 2020; when you add Machine Learning, that number is closer to $125 billion.
By Rob Salkowitz9 years ago in Futurism
Outrun Stories #6
“Strip all this away, strip it all away and what are you? What are you really?” “I’m a killer, Michael. This is my job, and this is what we’re going to get done.” He held the gun firmly forwards as the city at night rolled by outside. “You just keep driving and we’ll both come out of this alive.”
By Outrun Stories9 years ago in Futurism
Symbiote Chapter 0 (Prelude)
The pursuit of science is the key to unlocking the universe. The knowledge and technology gained are the gifts given by the universe as a reward for perseverance. No race had more perseverance in the pursuit than the long vanished Ansaii, the Byrds of legend. While other races were still throwing rocks at one another in petty attempts at power plays, the Ansaii were developing interstellar flight in practical theoretical pursuits. They had a gift for research, that nobody else could even contemplate.
By daniel morris9 years ago in Futurism
14/1/1967: The Underwater Menace – Part 1
My ongoing mission: to watch classic television fifty years after first broadcast... “You’re not turning me into a fish!” The problem I have with this episode is that Atlantis is presented as if it’s a legend (and indeed referred to as such) when it is in fact a fictional island from a MADE-UP STORY by Plato. The confusion arose when people started to speculate that Plato may have been inspired by a real place. But as far as I’m aware there is no evidence for this, and even if there was such inspiration, that’s all it was. There has never been any such place called Atlantis! So for Doctor Who to have a story set there, well the Doctor might as well visit the ‘legendary’ lands of Narnia or Tatooine or Oz or Pokemon.
By Nick Brown9 years ago in Futurism
