Storytelling, mythology, and legends have always influenced the scientific mind. There are some spectacular examples of inventions inspired by fiction, including the first cell phone, created by Engineer Martin Cooper after seeing the Star Trek communicator; or the first functioning submarine (the Argonaut), designed by Engineer Simon Lake after reading Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. So when it comes to the invention of Robots, Androids, and Artificial Intelligence, artistic imagination is just as important as science. Stories featuring fantastic machines have existed for thousands of years. Ancient myths portrayed the creators of such automata as preternatural sorcerers, wizards, alchemists, or artisan gods. The Greek god Hephaestus forged an array of magic weapons from gold, ivory, or bronze for the gods and heroes; a silver bow and quiver of arrows for Artemis, a golden chariot for Apollo, a shield for Achilles, a spear for Athena, and a breastplate for Hercules. He also created artificial life; bronze bulls, fire-breathing horses, golden … [Read more...] about Storytelling in the Age of Robots, Androids, and Artificial Intelligence
Volocopter: Flying Cars No Longer Science Fiction
Once you see Blade Runner 2049, the thought may cross your mind that flying cars (or "hovercars" as Phillip K. Dick wrote in his novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) could only exist in the distant future. Think again. On September 25, Dubai staged a test flight of the Volocopter, a two-seat drone with 18 propellers developed by a German drone firm. Dubai's Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed even attended the test flight. The United Arab Emirates city has long sought to become a high-tech hub of modern innovation by enticing companies through the elimination of sales and income tax and investing in cutting-edge technology such as holograms and robot police. Right now, the Volocopter is a novelty, flying without remote control guidance for 30 minutes (with backup batteries and rotors as well as parachutes). Eventually, the technology will become practical, opening a Pandora's box of questions. What kind of effect will flying vehicles have on society? Will access to advanced transportation technology be exclusive, further dividing the social stratums? Drones have … [Read more...] about Volocopter: Flying Cars No Longer Science Fiction
Author Dale Bridges on Satirical Sci Fi and Deconstructing Culture
Dale Bridges writes wildly inventive fiction. I'm not just tossing that phrase around either. His new short story collection, Justice Inc, reads like Phillip K Dick on crack. The stories are iconoclastic and charming, peppered with diabolical uses of modern technology and characters poised on a knife's edge between humanity and monstrosity. Bridges takes the reader through a series of mind-bending realities where people are adopted by corporations, text their way through an apocalypse, build themselves robot girlfriends and warp patriotism into a barbaric ritual of unsurpassed cruelty. The prose is well-crafted and the stories explore themes of gender, ageism, the commodification of life and even death with wry humor and an empathic understanding of human frailty. The protagonist is often an everyman who reveals the mechanics of the world, but each character is deeply flawed, often taking a surprising turn into damnation or redemption. Some worlds are topsy-turvy and others so close to our reality that Dale's finely-tuned observations have a tendency to sting. And though … [Read more...] about Author Dale Bridges on Satirical Sci Fi and Deconstructing Culture
