Description:
Discussion of written science fiction and fantasy.
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Charles Stross, what have you done this time?
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This is a link to a BBC news story about improvements on the West Coast mainline between London and Glasgow. It's interesting enough in its own right, but this bit of text below the video presentation is a bit ominous: "For technical reasons a short stretch near Milton Keynes is missing from the route."... more »
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You quite sure you aint one of those rocket scientist fellas?
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Just wondering what that was. Is it some kind of stereotype used to derogate people who know more than others? --------------------------- It is interesting that Thales has both stories told about his great practical skills and also about him being an unworldly dreamer. Aristotle, for example, relates a story of how Thales used his skills... more »
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Arthur C. Clarkes Braincap
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The Braincap is one of Arthur C. Clarkes predictions for the future. Braincaps will directly link (bypassing ears, eyes, skin etc) the human brain with seemingly unlimited computing power. Hooked in it will be possible to enter whole new universes of experiences, real and imaginary. According to Clarke, braincaps will be available from around 2025.... more »
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Recently Read - Mar. 2010
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Recently Read - Mar. 2010 Baker, Kage, "The Empress of Mars" p **** Mary Griffith, having been lured to Mars by unscrupulous recruiters to work for the British Arean Company, and dumped on her own resources when no longer needed, opened a bar. That was the beginning of the backstory, and the beginning of the end for the BAC.... more »
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Edwin Stark's AI Rebellion Finally on PRINT
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This is a press released by the author on Feb 1st 2010. Since we helped him in this forum, I consider it relevant enough to post it; I believe he's a very cool and talented sci-fi writer - I've read this book and many of his short stories... sometimes he's too convoluted but if you keep tabs on what he's aiming at, he'll surprise you with a... more »
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Two views on the future of evolution
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1. Futurologist Juan Enriquez believes that reengineering body parts and the brain will lead to "human speciation" unseen for hundreds of thousands of years, while controversial atheist 2. Richard Dawkins suggests that reverse-engineering evolution could create a highly illuminating "continuum between every species and... more »
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YASID: SF book written by astronaut
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I read two books in the eighties and I mostly recall the remarks in the covers proclaiming that they were written by an (American, if it matters) astronaut and contained real science. That should have warned me off since they didn't say the books were any good- you know, plot-, or character-wise, only that the science was right. [Uh, I read... more »
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Gliese 710 is a road-hog
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[link] The headline for this is a lot more alarmist than the facts support: Gliese 710, an orange star about six tenths the mass of the Sun, has a good chance of passing within half a parsec in 1.5 million years and about a one in one thousand chance of getting as close as the Kuiper Belt.... more »
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Two words: Godzilla haiku
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Sure, in retrospect, your reaction is bound to be, "Well of course, duh!" Godzilla haiku, like peanut butter, bacon and starships, two great things that go great together. [On the off chance there are some who don't know, a "haiku" is a Japanese poem. The hard rules are that they are 3 lines, 17 syllables, the first and... more »
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2010--The year the 21st century began
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SF has long predicted the future, the 21st century, but reality has been bitterly disappointing, over and over and over again--until now: --Moon colonies? Sheesh, not even a robotic base. --Flying cars? Prototypes but none approved. --Maglevs? One significant track in China. --Monorails? Isolated locales or theme park rides.... more »
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