science fiction

The bridge between imagination and technological advancement, where the dreamer’s vision predicts change, and foreshadows a futuristic reality. Science fiction has the ability to become “science reality”.

The Watcher
From the dome of his mile-long tower, peeking above the cracked earth of a former schoolyard, Dalen studied a wall of sulfuric storm clouds overshadowing the husks of Chicago’s skyline. One level below, a window wrapped around the tower’s shaft overlooked the hidden city, laid out like the layers of an onion. Were the city lifted to the surface, it would look like a giant toy top. The carved streets and homes lay open like a labyrinth, lit by cauldrons of engineered glowworms hanging from the cavern ceiling.
By Sequoia Nagamatsu10 years ago in Futurism
H.E.L.G.A. - A Tale of Artificial Intelligence
December 20 - 5:32 AM (Miami time) 10:32 GMT An Undisclosed Secure Location Up to this point, HELGA had been following the complex set of instructions which Jay-L created for her as part of an emergency action list to be executed in the event that he could not be located. Part of the list of tasks included several methods of determining the nature of Jay-L’s disappearance. If the circumstances surrounding his absence were suspicious, then she had very specific orders she was to follow. Once she determined the high likelihood that Jay-L was being pursued for capture by the Special Forces Delta Group, under direct order of the U.S. President, a whole new set of options became available to her as a means of responding. However, HELGA had finally exhausted the myriad of options on that detailed list of instructions which Jay-L had prepared in the event of his capture at the hands of the government.
By Lucian Randolph10 years ago in Futurism
Alone, In the Car, And In the Dark
Rare and Special Mammals The impact pinches the car doors shut. The dome light flickers eight times blue, then eight times red. Small processors work to determine if the cabin has held its form.
By Scot Braswell10 years ago in Futurism
Ben Bova Interview
"Don't ask your readers to admire your words when you want them to believe your story." Science Fiction author Ben Bova realized that the general rules of science - don't add an experiment to an experiment, and don't make things overly complicated - also applied to science fiction. His theory certainly brought him success. Starting out as a technical writer for Project Vanguard in the 1950's, Ben Bova went on to become a successor to John W. Campbell as editor of editor of Analog Science Fact & Fiction where he won six Hugo Awards. Throughout his career he authored over 120 books on science fact and science fiction, worked as editorial director for OMNI magazine, and was president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. He has appeared as the Guest of Honor at the Florida convention Necronomicon on two separate occasions, and in 2000, he attended the 58th World Science Fiction Convention as the Author Guest of Honor.
By Claire Evans10 years ago in Futurism
Darkening Day
Remember when The Curtain went up? The only viable solution, extreme as it was, to save humanity from Earth's rapidly hyper-toxifying, invisibly over-saturating air. A superstructure, ten miles up, of floating chemical filters, each a sort of box-shaped balloon, converting noxious chemicals into safer ones. Billions of them, linked together into an edgeless shell spanning the entire globe.
By Breyen Katz10 years ago in Futurism
Discognition Questions Consciousness
My new book, Discognition, looks at science fiction in order to think about questions of consciousness. Each of us knows that he or she is conscious; and most of us take it for granted that not only human beings are conscious, but animals like dogs and cats are as well. But how far downwards does consciousness go? Are lobsters conscious? Are trees? Are bacteria? We don't really know. But the enigmas go further. We don't even understand our own intelligence and mental activity. We live in a golden age of neuroscience; every year, we learn more and more about the functioning of the brain. And yet, despite this accumulation of knowledge, nobody really knows what consciousness is, or how it works. Philosophers and scientists disagree on even the most basic issues. We have no idea how to get from the brain to the mind: from electrochemical processes in our neurons to things like feelings and thoughts and experiences.
By Steven Shaviro10 years ago in Futurism
Analog Tale for a Digital Age
The teenage kids hanging out at my machine shop didn't know why I wanted a telephone. A plug-in phone, with wires hanging out of it, was a joke to them. They'd never seen a fax machine in their lives.
By Bruce Sterling10 years ago in Futurism
Interstellar Transit
This will be the beginning of a new age. Or I will fail. Again. For three hundred OE cycles, the We Together have dedicated our resources to this moment. Materials and refining facilities across the System have been shunted to the project, as both the Primary and a nontrivial proportion of upper tier secondary sentiences turned to designing and constructing the Transit Mechanism. Again.
By David Williams10 years ago in Futurism
80s Sci-Fi Cult Classic Movies
Contemporary sci-fi often gets so overladen with pristine special effects that it almost seems too sterile. There is a sense of newfound political correctness in today's sci-fi, which sometimes even seems a bit preachy. It can make one yearn for 80s sci-fi cult classic movies. It was a time of transition for movie making and a decade of experimentation in the film industry. The top 90s sci-fi cult classic movies would encompass a decade of institutionalizing film production. 80s sci-fi films will remain an anomaly in the history of film for a number of reasons, but primarily because they remind us of a time when there were no boundaries to the imagination, and films did not cost hundreds of millions of dollars to deliver a limited storyline and cookie cutter actors and actresses. These cult classic movies will remain a must-see for the sci-fi fans of all ages.
By Emily McCay10 years ago in Futurism
Best Time Travel Books
Time: the final frontier. These are the voyages of storytellers throughout the mysteries of time, exploring how to break through its apparently-rigid barriers and break its (apparently equally rigid) rules. But when you think about it, we're all traveling through time together—in what we can perceive as forward. Not all of us pass through at the same subjective rate, of course, because there are teeny-tiny relativistic effects at work, which have to do with our relative motions.
By Natasha Sydor11 years ago in Futurism
Becoming a Type 1 Civilization
One giant step for a man, one giant leap for humankind. Leaving my gender neutralization of the famous quote aside, the year was 1969 and people around the world were amazed (or in complete disbelief) when it was reported that a human being had set foot on the moon. 46 years ago this momentous event took place, and since that time we have not advanced a single step forward.
By DS Peters11 years ago in Futurism
Best Philip K. Dick Books
Philip K. Dick's work has transformed the way we view science fiction. He published 44 novels and over 100 short stories, and 12 book to film adaptations, extending his influence even to today. In most of his works, the wall between reality and illusion fails to exist, leaving his audience to figure out what is and is not real. He touched upon deep philosophical issues. What does it mean to be human? What is an identity? Can I trust my own memories? As a long time science fiction fan, I can't list the following PKD novels in any particular order. To impose my own order would be arrogant of me. Each of the best Philip K. Dick books can be enjoyed by any fan of science-fiction.
By George Gott11 years ago in Futurism