Topics pertaining to science fiction and/or fantasy, in book, TV show, or movie formats.
I’ve often wondered what the future would look like if someone did create a true artificial intelligence, and it was simple enough that anyone could do it once they knew how. I’ve often thought that most of today’s intellectual jobs would just vanish, the way that so many blue-collar jobs did when automation started replacing …
Continue reading ‘“I, for one, welcome our robotic communist jobless future”’ »
This is utter nonsense, as far as I can tell. There simply wouldn’t be enough volatile material to create something that would explode with any amount of force. At best it could turn someone into a walking fireball for a (very) short time, which is bad enough on an airplane, but would hardly bring it …
Continue reading ‘“Latest Movie-Plot Threat: Explosive-Dipped Clothing”’ »
I didn’t realize that we had the technology needed for fusion engines yet! A common theme on this blog is science advances that were anticipated or inspired by science fiction, and this one is no exception. This fusion engine sounds very much like the fictional Lyle Drive mentioned at the beginning of Robert Heinlein’s famous …
Continue reading ‘“NASA-backed fusion engine could cut Mars trip down to 30 days”’ »
Those of us who think about these things have been saying that for decades. I hope people listen soon enough for it to do humanity some good.
We got the new car on schedule, got it home, and I spent several hours setting everything up and reading about various features. It paired with both my phone and GoddessJ’s, via Bluetooth, with no problem. The hands-free system works like a charm; the audio quality is as good as our phones alone. The built-in …
Ever heard of Elsevier? Unless you’re a scientist, probably not. It’s a scientific and medical publishing company, which takes science research — done by scientists it does not employ, often with public funds — and sells it at exorbitant prices to universities and libraries. The money they make at this, they keep; the original researchers …
Continue reading ‘“Elsevier’s backpedalling not stopping scientist strike”’ »
This looks like the fulfillment of every six-year-old boy’s dreams. Just watch the video! Even knowing it’s possible (assuming it’s not a hoax — doesn’t look like it to me) stirs my childhood fantasies.
I haven’t had the time to watch it, but it looks amusing.
This is possibly the most interesting article I’ve seen on a site that regularly carries interesting pieces. It’s not hurt by the fact that it implies a comparison between Steve Jobs and Snow White’s evil stepmother either. 😉
Oops, another perfectly good disaster scenario down the drain. Unless something like the metavirus from the novel Snow Crash appears, capable of infecting both humans and computers, I think we’re fairly safe on that front. At this rate, right-leaning politicians and other fear-mongers must be seeing a new disaster on the horizon: running out of …
Continue reading ‘“The cyber-weapons paradox: ‘They’re not that dangerous’”’ »