In this TEDx talk at Harvard College, Charlie Jane Anders (Science Fiction author and co-founder of io9) discusses something near and dear to my heart – how a person manages to be optimistic about the future of mankind while, simultaneously, acknowledging that there are some catastrophes on the horizon. There are a few points where…
What if all of the dystopian stories are wrong and things turn out really great?
Sometimes, when I’m discussing the potential of future science and technology, I find myself thinking that I sound like a Bond villain. More and more though I’m ok with that, because this isn’t a Bond story. We are conditioned by fiction to think that conspiracies abound and that science and technology are bound to destroy…
What Season 2 of Cosmos Should Look Like
All indications are that there won’t be a second season of Cosmos. Neil deGrasse Tyson has said that he’s not interested, the network doesn’t seem anxious to have another season and the original Carl Sagan Cosmos didn’t have a second season. Cosmos was never really intended to be an ongoing series. After all if, as…
Join my new Facebook group on science, technology and society
It’s been a long time since I created a Facebook group. I have doubts about Facebook’s long term viability. However, it will do for now. The new group is for the discussion of emerging science and technology and its, potentially substantial, impact on us all. Rather than drag this out too much I will simply…
1960s science fiction writers predict 2014 (pretty accurately)
Good science fiction starts with at least a basic understanding of science on the part of the writer. It may be fantastical in parts, but it has to be grounded enough in reality to at least be plausible. This is what separates sci-fi (Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, 2001) from fantasy (Lord of the Rings, Game…
Science Fiction Technologies That Exist in the Real World [video]
Technologies from science fiction that are becoming reality has been a regular topic on this site: From cybernetics and space travel to 3D printing, genetic engineering and artificial intelligence. Those are just a few examples though. Here, from AllTime10s are a some more technologies that have made their way from the pages of science fiction novels into the…
Why Do So Many Science Fiction Writers Fear Science?
Charlie Jane Anders at io9 asked an interesting question this week: “Why does science fiction portray extended human lifespans negatively?”. It is an interesting question in and of itself, but it almost immediately raised other questions for me. Specifically, how do science fiction writers treat other advances that may soon be within our grasp. Surprisingly,…
The Future Is Coming Faster and Faster
I’ve talked about this before but changes in science, medicine and technology are coming which will make the changes brought by personal computers and the internet seem insignificant by comparison. While some of the new tech is potentially scary on its own, what is truly frightening is that no government body or political party is…
How Science, Technology, Science Fiction and Progressive Politics are All Related
If you read this blog regularly, or follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably noticed that science, science fiction and progressive politics are regular topics. To me though these are not unrelated topics. Good science fiction is based on science. Science is what separates science fiction (Star Trek) from fantasy (Lord of the Rings). Fantasy, like religion, relies on magic.…