future
Exploring the future of science today, while looking back on the achievements from yesterday. Science fiction is science future.
Digital Drugs: The Future of Pain Relief Is Electronic
Could your Apple Watch do double duty as a pain relief device? Maybe the next incarnation of the fitness tracker, The Fitbit, will be the go-to tech to help you endure your torn leg muscle from jogging too much or suffering from the dull ache of early onset arthritis pain. As wearable tech and digital devices become more affordable and powerful, we’re happily strapping onto our bodies all kinds of wonderful electronic toys. In the medical field, digital pain relief for many kinds of common ailments promises to be only an app click away. All that quick relief and convenience sound great—but what, if any, are the potential downsides?
By Will Stape9 years ago in Futurism
Ice World Truckers
Friday, February 22nd 2115, 1413 Hours. Galactic Industries Fuel Depot 3. Orbiting Saturn’s moon Titan. Jax sat at the controls of the Earth Cargo Union hauler, Mari Kait. “Are the docking clamps ready?” he called over his shoulder without taking his eyes from the panel displaying the ship’s position in relation to the Depot’s docking port. They appeared to be perfectly aligned, but he wasn’t going to leave it to chance.
By Michael Medeiros9 years ago in Futurism
Heart-Rending Poems for Sci-Fi Fanatics
Distant relatives to the familiar "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," these sci fi poems are raw, real, and sometimes almost too close for comfort. They blur the line between speculation and reality in their carefully composed stanzas and bring us to mini existential crises - not earth-shattering ones. Each is just the right size to bring along to a good evening of poetry for the starry-eyed dreamer. (And if no one you know is cool enough to host one, you'd better send out invitations to your own. I suggest hot beverages, an antipasto platter, and no, I'm not doing anything, of course I would be delighted to come, thank you for asking!)
By Sarah Quinn9 years ago in Futurism
Space
In a recent Omni article, "New Words Were Needed," I looked at some of the commonalities between modernism and science fiction. After inventorying some of the ways science fiction transposes modernist formal concerns to the level of story, I wrote, "And those are just some of the techniques of modernism; I won't even mention postmodernism."
By M. Thomas Gammarino9 years ago in Futurism
The Space Museum Lover's Bucket List
One of the best things about going to a space museum is sharing the experience with astrophile friends and family who are as ready to nerd out as you are. If space shuttles, planetariums, lunar rocks, and astronaut suits get you all kinds of excited, then prepare to blast off to geek paradise with this list of the best space museums in the whole world.
By Sarah Quinn9 years ago in Futurism
The Sci-Fi Museum Lover's Bucket List
If you’re a true fan of science fiction, whether campy or classic, space opera or speculative fiction, Star Trek or Jules Verne, you probably can’t get enough of the worlds your favorite characters inhabit, the clothes they wear, and the technology they wield. Lucky you, because some of the most exciting artifacts and memorabilia are exhibited in carefully curated museums around the world, and the momentum is building for even more. Check out this bucket list of already-existing sci-fi museums and exhibits, then get ready for two world-class museums coming to Hollywood, California and Washington D.C. in the years to come.
By Sarah Quinn9 years ago in Futurism
Orwell's 1984 Was Optimistic
When George Orwell wrote his most famous, and last, novel, 1984, it was against a backdrop of rising fascist totalitarianism in Europe. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco, all turned their respective democratic nations into oppressive regimes. While Hitler sought war with Europe, Stalin declared war on his own people, purging the Soviet Union of anyone he feared might usurp him – they numbered in the millions. It was after participating in the Spanish Civil War, against Franco’s Nationalists, that Orwell’s writing direction turned towards one of speaking out against totalitarianism and promoting democratic socialism.
By Jacob Frommer9 years ago in Futurism
New Words Were Needed
I spent the past semester teaching two separate courses— one on science fiction, the other on modernism— to some very bright high school students. Having expected to suffer some intellectual whiplash as I shifted several times a day from talking about aliens and cyberpunk to Dadaism and the Harlem Renaissance, I was relieved at how naturally it all came to me. No doubt this is because I like all this stuff and generally know my way around it, but what surprised me was how much overlap these "genres" turned out to have (they're not really "genres," but I can't seem to find a better word)— that is, that I enjoy Ulysses and A Martian Odyssey for many of the same reasons; it's just that these reasons are operating at different levels of the text.
By M. Thomas Gammarino9 years ago in Futurism
Who Will Survive the Next Biotic Crisis?
While the next biotic event is probably not in the near future, fossil records clearly testify that extinction is an unavoidable fate for all species. The real question remains: what is left in the wake of mankind? Our lineage is more likely to be altered through evolution than entirely snuffed out.
By Brian Switek9 years ago in Futurism
