Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Futurism.
History of Sound Effects
BOOM! A nuclear bomb just went off before your eyes. You feel your heart pounding, and the explosion is still reverberating in your ears, but you can’t move your body. Your eyes are glued to the screen as you sit on a cushioned chair in a cool IMAX theater. When the movie ends, you head to the bathroom and reality smacks you in the face. You’re not Will Smith and you didn’t just save the human race from extraterrestrials, but none of that matters because you feel like you did.
By James Lizowski8 years ago in Futurism
Robots Imitate Life
If you've been to an office, you probably know what a drop-ceiling is. It's the grid of whitish tiles in which light fixtures and ventilator grates are set. If you stand on a desk and push one of the rectangular tiles out of its frame, you can stick your head into the space above it and see your office building as it really is: air ducts and electrical cables, concrete beams and sprinkler pipes. When you lift the ceiling tile, you might feel a sensation of trespass as the secrecy above escapes into the office below. Once you know about the space above the ceiling, no office ever looks quite the same. Everything about an office looks strange when 30 percent of the building has to be hidden in order to make the other 70 look normal.
By George Lazenby8 years ago in Futurism
How Apollo 13 Avoided Disaster
Are you superstitious? Would you fly on ship number 13? Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Ken Mattingly didn't think the number 13 would be unlucky for them. They had trained for many months to fly the third lunar landing mission, Apollo 13. Lovell and Haise planned to spend 33 hours exploring the surface of the Moon, while Mattingly circled above them in the command module Odyssey. The story of what happened instead is a tribute to the bravery, ingenuity, and teamwork not only of the astronauts themselves, but also of the hundreds of controllers, technicians, and scientists who brought three men safely home from outer space. You can decide whether or not the number 13 was unlucky for them at the end of the story.
By Futurism Staff8 years ago in Futurism
Albert Einstein's Legacy
Albert Einstein was born over 100 years ago on March 14, 1879. There was no indication at the time that the few kilograms of gray matter in the mewling infant would ignite into an intellectual rocket whose mighty blast would shake the very foundations of physics and illumine the farthest reaches of space and time.
By Futurism Staff8 years ago in Futurism
Life on Jupiter
Most people can swim. Even I can, though someone once said unkindly that I give a spirited impression of a baby seal with training flippers. Most animals can also swim, at least passably. And we know that the sea is teeming with life, some of it very intelligent. Dolphins, sea lions, and porpoises are no fools, as we have learned. What, then, are the chances that, somewhere, advanced life forms live in a liquid environment?
By Futurism Staff8 years ago in Futurism
Jim Burns Interview
Science fiction cover artist Jim Burns is regarded as one of the Grand Masters of his craft. By utilizing clean lines, unique color work, and excellent composition, Burns’s work often exhibits intricate photo-realistic displays of advanced machines and detailed spaceships. Using primarily acrylics, and occasionally oils, Burns’s ability to take mundane objects and transform them into something otherworldly is nothing short of spectacular.
By Natasha Sydor8 years ago in Futurism
How Accurate is Astrology?
Over the decades, evidence has been accumulating of striking correlations between events in the heavens and events on earth. If astrological "influence" is a fact, it ought to be susceptible to statistical study. With this starting point, a number of early studies were made (the most famous by Jung), some of which appeared to vindicate astrological claims, at least to astrological devotees. Then, in 1950, a young Sorbonne graduate in statistics, Michel Gauquelin, set out to disprove these claims, with unexpected results.
By Futurism Staff8 years ago in Futurism
Fire Fighting Ice
On a cold Christmas Day a long time ago, a five-alarm fire at 2724 Heath Avenue, in the Bronx, New York City, raged out of control for more than five hours before firefighters were able to subdue the flames. Firemen arriving at the scene found hydrants locked solidly with ice and were forced to use 750-gallon pumpers. While the firemen attempted to unfreeze pumper spigots with acetylene torches, flames raced through the cockloft of the six-story white-brick building and spilled from the windows on the upper floor. Firefighters battled the flames from fire escapes on the face of the building, but intense heat drove them off the ice-coated metal stairways. From the street below, Fire Commissioner Charles Hynes watched as the icy spray from water cannons pelted the street with golf-ball-size hail. "These were the most difficult circumstances under which we had to operate," he said, referring to the arctic weather and the immense volume of water needed to extinguish the blaze. "If it had been summer, it would have been a one-alarm, easy," said a department spokesman.
By Izzy Erlich8 years ago in Futurism
'Frank Herbert’s Dune' Miniseries
Back in 1965, Frank Herbert revolutionized science fiction literature with his futuristic epic Dune. This novel earned him the coveted Hugo and Nebula Awards and helped launch a series of bestselling sequels, as well as the 1984 David Lynch-directed film.
By Futurism Staff8 years ago in Futurism