TechnovelgyNews

HIPerWall super display, Bibliochaise and a Flash Mob

2006-04-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

Today's new SF in the News:

HIPerWall Highly Interactive Parallelized Display Wall

Think you like your current display? This one might wrap all the way around your dorm room.

Today's new Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Bibliochaise Armchairlibrary

I could sit and read for a year straight in one of these.

Retrotastic Mobile Office Of The Future

Nifty office concept; still looks a bit retro.

Banned Xbox Commercial Flash Mob Homebrew

Not to be squashed by the bulk of Microsoft, dedicated xboxers use a flash mob to brew their own version of a banned commercial. Live. In public.

Lots to catch up on

2006-04-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Today's new SF in the News

Invention Machine Evolved By Genetic Programming
Artificially intelligent machines design parts for NASA, binoculars and circuit designs. Your so-called creative job is next.

Singularity Summit At Stanford
Must-attend summit at Stanford on the technological Singularity bearing down on all of us like a runaway train.

Synthehol Sought By Psychopharmacologists
Science-fictional alcohol without hangovers and cirrhosis may be within reach, says a UB prof.

Today's new Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Trophy Active Defense System Not Quite A Force Field
Not exactly a force-field, ADS still acts like one.

Tunnel Cam Robot
Okay, the tunnel cam is not the Mole, let alone Cave Carson's Mighty Mole. But I can dream, can I not?
Do-It-Yourself Microgravity Courtesy Of NASAHow can regular guys be more like those macho astronauts? NASA has found a way.

Hybrid Insect MEMS Sought By DARPA For Bug Army
DARPA rejects previous efforts and exhorts scientists to really think different in it's insect cyborg army idea.

Eurotech WWPC (Wrist Wearable PC ) Beats Tracy's
Calling all cars! The WWPC is not just a radio, but a Linux or Windows CE device.

Autotelematic Spider Bots
These spider bots are much friendlier looking than the killer-spider-robots seen earlier this week.

Today's new technovelgy items from science fiction books

Vibrowriter
A device that translated speech and typed it out for you.
(From The Lost Language [1934] by David H. Keller)

Total Environmental and Mental Simulator
An AI that could create and discard whole branches of science in pursuing the answer to a problem.
(From Crown of Infinity [1968] by John M. Faucette)

Interests Profile
An intelligent agent; a software program with your personal tastes on file.
(From The Age of The Pussyfoot [1965] by Frederik Pohl)

Joymaker
A networked personal digital assistant - that really is an assistant.
(From The Age of The Pussyfoot [1965] by Frederik Pohl)

Spook
A drink that comes unflavored in a container; twist the cap to add flavor.
(From SOLACE [1998] by Jeff Noon)

Calster
A handheld device that printed legal currency on the spot.
(From Return from the Stars [1961] by Stanislaw Lem)

Enryu Hyper Rescue Robot Back in the News

2006-02-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

The very cool T52 Enryu Support Dragon Hyper Rescue Robot was back in the news this week. Suffering under the weight of record snow, Enryu has been pressed into service as a snowbusting megamachine.

A model tested Thursday in Niigata prefecture, at the heart of Japan's snow country, has two hydraulically operated arms with a reach of 5 meters, each capable of lifting 500 kilograms, according to company spokesman Shiro Fujita.
In the tests, Enryu successfully lifted a car from deep snow and simulated knocking ice and snow off rooftops with the help of a sophisticated, Fujita said.

(From Japan Tests Snow Rescue Robot)

For more details and pix, take a look at my original story T52 Enryu Support Dragon Hyper Rescue Robot - Enryu, a telefactoring rescue robot capable of lifting steel girders and tearing the doors off cars, was demonstrated to the press yesterday.

Printing Meat and the Games of Tomorrow

2006-02-03T19:46:00.000-08:00

Posted several new ones yesterday -

Hungry? Print Yourself Some Bacon - If scientists can just about print organs, I can certainly print myself some bacon.

Games Of Tomorrow Built By Players Wiki-Style - The world's megacorporations are counting on you to do the work in the next round of online game creation.

I think I added another technovelgy item from Crashing Suns - just 25 more items and I will have added 1,000 to my database.

De-atomizing Ray - Beam of energy causes matter to fly apart.

Inflatable Concrete Housing (and Larry Niven's Architectural Coral)

2006-02-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

This item sounds a lot like Larry Niven's architectural coral - but take a look at Concrete Canvas - Inflatable Concrete Buildings - This great portable shelter lets you create housing anywhere - even if a housing development would look like hundreds of loaves in a baker's window.

Self-Steering Honda Accord ADAS and the Imation Flash Wristband

2006-02-01T20:40:00.000-08:00

Couple of new stories today; Honda has brought out a new Accord for sale in the UK market that actually steers itself for brief periods. See Honda Accord ADAS Heinlein Wannabe - We are SO close to Heinlein's Camden Speedster.

Imation has a new Flash memory device. Yes, I know - but this one seems cooler to me. And it also solves a pesky medical informatics problem. See Imation Flash Wristband: Music And Medical Informatics Miracle - Hey, kill two birds with one stone with this cool item.

Oh, and I forgot to mention in my previous post that I also added a "Blog This" feature to all technovelgy items and all SF in the News stories.

Format Changes

2006-02-01T20:38:00.000-08:00

I made some format changes to the home page; I shortened the Current Science Fiction in the News section, and added a Stories You Might Have Missed section, just to make sure some good stories aren't buried.

I also added a home page section on the latest new technovelgy on the site. As you might surmise, I've been reading Ray Cummings lately.

Hope you like.

Comptometers, Telephots and Stasis

2006-01-31T18:33:00.000-08:00

Comptometers were a special brand of calculator; they were common at the end of the 19th century, and the early 20th. But when Cummings writes about the Grantline Comptometer, he's referring to something that we couldn't actually do until Mathematica came out.

And how about telephots? Videophones to you; this quote from early Gernsback is a good one. Also, here's a short article on stasis from an early Heinlein novel; think hibernation as opposed to freezing.

Russian Lunar Mining and Crayfish for NASA

2006-01-31T18:29:00.000-08:00

It turns out that somebody thought of mining a rare substance from the moon and using it to generate energy by some sort of nuclear process - Ray Cummings. In his book Brigands of the Moon, he describes what the Russians are thinking of doing now. See Russian Moon Base Mining Camp

Even though NASA has already been to the moon and expored it, you never give up even the smallest edge. That's why NASA has met with a crayfish expert - read Crustaceans help NASA with exploration skills.

SuitSat, AMANDA, MASTOR, Electric Sheep, nanoTerminator and Corpsicles

2006-01-27T20:32:00.000-08:00

Lots of good stuff this week. Turns out that tossing space suits out the Space Station airlock is "deploying" a satellite; see SuitSat Casual Day Satellite. Neutrino telescope AMANDA May Find Probes To Higher Dimensions.
Is IBMs MASTOR system what is needed to give us Star Trek's universal translator? In Japan and elsewhere, we find that 'Electric Sheep' are Gaining on Real Pets. The amazing NanoTerminator Prevents Annoying Space Debris Build-up. And good news for those unwilling to go straight to the hereafter - Dynasty Trusts Lively Topic For Corpsicles.

Anti-Adhesive Properties of Plants

2006-01-25T19:45:00.000-08:00

Interesting research on pitcher plants and other passive vegan meateaters. See the article Anti-Adhesive Surfaces of Plants for details.

Also added some items, like the translator discs from Larry Niven's Ringworld and the attractive ray from Edmund Hamilton's Crashing Suns (probably the first reference to something like a tractor beam).

Ultrasets, Shock Hammocks and Orion Ship Michael

2006-01-23T19:58:00.000-08:00

Added a few more over the weekend; the first few from a great Lester del Rey story from 1939. This story has a very early mention of the ultrawave, a faster-than-light communication system. The shock hammock from the same story is a very early reference (maybe the first - del Rey believes so) to the fact that, when accelerating at high gravities, the pilot's body must be perpendicular to the direction of motion.

Finally, the Orion nuclear-pulse ship Michael from Niven and Pournelle's excellent Footfall was added, along with a cool illustration.

'Space Technology' from 1928

2006-01-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

I've been adding a few items from Crashing Suns, a sci-fi classic from 1928, by Edmond Hamilton.

Check out telestereo (a dead ringer for a hologram), privately owned space cruisers and the vibration-propelled cruiser, which surfs on the very ocean of spacetime itself.

Skiing on the Moon

2006-01-18T07:43:00.000-08:00

Thanks to a great tip from Fred Kiesche, I posted a cool story on how Apollo astronauts thought about skiing on the moon. It turns out that Robert Heinlein had thought about it at least a generation earlier.

I also posted some other items from The Rolling Stones, the Heinlein reference story, including moon skis, Lunocycles and flat cats.

Emotionally Sensitive XPod and Soldiers Get Odors

2006-01-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

Very strange article on USC researchers who developed a system that will allow soldiers to receive their orders via odors - a wireless-enabled collar delivers the smells. It turns out that special software can help your iPod learn what music is best for your activity and mood.

Corresponding quote from Hellstrom's Hive on chemical orders posted. I also found some good ones on Luxvid wide-angle eye replacements, steel teeth and interchangeable hands; all from The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by PKD, natch.

Smokestack Algae, DVR Sleep Detectors, Sony Reader

2006-01-13T10:40:00.000-08:00

Lots of stuff posted on the site, not so much on this blog. However, take a look at Algae on smokestacks to cleanse the atmosphere ,the proposed Lucent DVR sleep detector and the Sony Reader electronic book.

And some new technovelgy items, like the pencil heat ray, the first sf invisible cloak and the memory diamond digital storage device.

DARPA Handheld Radar Scope Senses Through Walls

2006-01-07T07:21:00.000-08:00

DARPA continues in its quest to make troops superhuman. Formerly the province of superheroes and maybe Star Trek, troops can now hear you breathe on the other side of a twelve-inch wall - see DARPA Portable Radar Scope Senses Through Walls.

You might be interested in some past news items along the same vein:

DARPA Seeks Metabolic Dominance (Relates to Jack Vance's The Last Castle)
DARPA Wants Exoskeletons (Relates to Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers)

I'm having some server problems this morning - my webhost refers to a "hard drive failure" - when did I do my last database backup? I guess we'll find out at ten o'clock PST.

Dynalifter Airship and USAF Space Wars Sim

2006-01-05T14:02:00.000-08:00

It turns out that the US Air Force is interested in getting a suitable space wars simulation going - read Air Force ready for Space War. Heavy lifter airship enthusiasts take heart; the Dynalifter prototype is ready for flight.

Found (and posted) some interesting technovelgy from Ender's Game (Card) and West of Honor (Pournelle) - see Battleroom, Flash Suit, Beach Ball Survival Bubble
and Skyhook.

Britain Tries Self-Steering Buses

2006-01-03T06:51:00.000-08:00

With its thousand year-old roads, Britain needs buses with more than humanly accurate steering - that's why they are trying self-steering buses. Robert Heinlein fans may recall with some satisfaction the self-steering Camden speedster from his 1941 story Methuselah's Children.

William Gibson Creates Jacket By Force Of Will

2006-01-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

A reader passed on an interesting tip about William Gibson's 2003 novel Pattern Recognition. In the novel, he made up a black MA-1 jacket from Buzz Rickson's for a particular character. Now there really is one, thanks to fans of the novel. See Black MA-1 Jacket Written Into Existence By William Gibson.

National Archives and Chapter House Records

2006-01-01T12:03:00.000-08:00

An interesting item turned up recently; the US National Archives are having a problem keeping track of too many documents in too many formats. Is there an sf answer? See National Archives and Chapter House Dune.

I also found some goodies in one of Larry Niven's early novels - read about the stasis box and architectural coral. More recently, the bee cam from a recent Karen Traviss novel sounds handy.

Flexible Armor and USB Swiss Prediction

2005-12-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

Interesting new reference to the "soft armor" concept (read more in Liquid Armor In Two Flavors: Shear Thickening and Magnetorheological). It turns out that Larry Niven wrote about a flexible armor suit in his 1968 novel Neutron Star.

MrKlingon wrote in with an interesting tie-in to the USB Memory Swiss Army knife from earlier in the year; read the story and the story reference from Karen Traviss' City of Pearl.

Palm Authentication and Tree Pod Tents

2005-12-29T07:40:00.000-08:00

Palm Vein Identification? Once you get it, you won't need to worry about lost library cards - and maybe other forms of ID. Jack Vance's Tree Pods are now available for occupancy. Also, I found some interesting Technovelgy items from some of David Brin's works - like the Fabricow, Hostage Gas, Whale Waldoes and Tether Space Stations. And don't miss EmilyPost, a really clever idea.