Tag: science fiction

But did it contain a miniature Racquel Welch?

News item: Some 40 years after the release of the classic science fiction movie Fantastic Voyage, researchers in the NanoRobotics Laboratory of École Polytechnique de Montréal’s Department of Computer Engineering and Institute of Biomedical Engineering have achieved a major technological breakthrough in the field of medical robotics. They have succeeded for the first time in …

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Derryl Murphy throws hat in ring for SFWA VP

Further to the previous post about John Scalzi running for president of SFWA, Derrly Murphy, former Canadian regional director, has put his name forward for vice-president. I’m leaning his way, too.

John Scalzi for SFWA president?

John Scalzi has announced he is in the running as a write-in president for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). I just received my ballot and haven’t given it any serious thought yet, but after reading his comments and platform, I have to say I’m leaning toward writing him in. If you’re …

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Sad but true

David Louis Edelman lists Five Things That Don’t Happen When You Become a Published Author…alas. (Via SFBC.com.)

Ethics for robots

Says the BBC: An ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South Korea. The Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007. It is being put together by a five member team of experts that includes futurists and …

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Books that influenced today’s technologists…

…are rounded up in a survey by IEEE Spectrum. Robert A. Heinlein is well-represented, but even J.R.R. Tolkien gets a mention. (Via The Website at the End of the Universe.)

Cosmic coincidence

The main location for the action in my new SF novel, set on a mostly ocean-covered world circling a distant star, is a town called Hansen’s Harbor, named after Dr. Victor Hansen, who led his genetically modified merpeople to safety. Today I discovered someone had found my blog while searching for Hansen’s Harbor. Turns out …

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Something else I should have had on my fictional ocean planet:

A 127-mph submarine!

Hard on the heels of my column about ray guns…

…comes this story, headlined “Star Trek-like ‘Tricorder’ becomes science fact”: A press release at Purdue University has unveiled the startling news that a portable sensing system to analyze chemical components is now a reality. About the size of a large car battery, the unit is, at less than 20 pounds, much smaller than the refrigerator …

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Final ballot for Nebula Awards announced

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) have announced the final ballot for this year’s Nebula Awards, made up of the top vote-getters from the preliminary ballot, which is a list of all the stories that received at least 10 recommendations from active members of SFWA by the end of 2006. The final …

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Rise of the ray-guns

“Set phasers on stun!” Captain Kirk used to order his crew, the usual preference of the United Federation of Planets being to avoid killing aliens, no matter how bad their make-up, if at all possible. Alas, in the real world, we don’t always have that option. Aside from the Taser, which zaps people with an …

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Free 2007 science fiction swimsuit calendar!

Every year The Web Site @ the End of the Universe creates a free downloadable science fiction calendar. This year, it’s the swimsuit edition! (That’s Miss January at left.)

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