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The Mechanism
The Mechanism EXT. WASTELAND - DAY A morbid landscape: the smoking aftermath of a war in a 1950's American city. The high pitched screams of death rays erupt from a section of fallen buildings.
Omar AttiaPublished 7 years ago in FuturismThe Legacy of Hard Science Fiction
Hard science fiction embodies the essence of the genre, though science fiction does not always adhere to its principles. They do not call it science fiction for nothing, though sometimes it might seem that way. The mushy physics, galaxy-hopping adventures, and even outright mysticism of Star Wars and Star Trek may hark back to the pulp science fiction of E. E. "Doc" Smith and Edmond Hamilton, but they do not say a lot for the average level of science education among Hollywood producers. Nevertheless, there is a long and healthy tradition of more scientifically faithful science fiction, running from Jules Verne and H. G. Wells through writers of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s (think of Arthur C. Clarke and Hal Clement) and on into the 1960s and 1970s in the hands of Larry Niven, Gordon R. Dickson, and others. Hard science fiction stands for some readers as the true heart and soul of the genre, and it continues vigorously today, as is evidenced by a look at publications since the Golden Age of science fiction.
John FoleyPublished 7 years ago in FuturismThe Mind Job
It was past midnight when Detective Jensen received a thought from the Mental Larceny Division. A mind jobber had been busted. The huge cache of stolen memories would have to be read, as well as the jobber's mind. The download would take days, but would likely lead to breakthroughs in several of her cases. She thought about what particular memories, people, and places she was looking for more evidence on, and the computer recorded all faithfully. The systems would let her know when new evidence was available, at the speed of thought.
David HallquistPublished 7 years ago in FuturismWrite For OMNI Today
OMNI has now joined the Vocal platform, letting fans from all over the world contribute to the iconic brand. A staple in the science fiction, fantasy, and hard science community for the past 40 years, OMNI enables dreamers of today to become thought leaders of tomorrow.
Futurism StaffPublished 8 years ago in FuturismInterview with 'Floaters' Creator Jeremy Solterbeck
Space: the Final Frontier. Or... is it? While space travel has consistently been depicted in science fiction and popular culture as an exclusivity attainable by elite scientists, engineers, and air force pilots, Floaters poses an interesting predicament: what if ordinary people went to space?
Natasha SydorPublished 8 years ago in FuturismCan Science Fiction Predict the Future?
"Well, you know, William Gibson was writing about that in 1984." It's become a running joke among my friends that I say something like this every few months, usually when discussion turns to the increasingly science fictional resonances of our everyday world. Science fiction writers can be a prescient lot, by trade. But William Gibson, in particular, has a remarkable track record for what seems like genuine prophecy, starting with his very first short stories, published in—surprise—OMNI magazine.
Glenn McDonaldPublished 8 years ago in FuturismAs You Know Bob - I Don’t Exist
As you know Bob, I don’t exist—but I am, for all intents and purposes, immortal. You must have wondered many times of course just what is meant by the word "self." Certainly there is conscious awareness, but where does that awareness stand? What is its platform? Personality, as we understand it, is a combination of memory and action—declarative memory of the sort that tells you that Paris is the capital of France and it is procedural memory that enables you to ride a bicycle. Personality though? Well then, think of a unit of memory and a single star and personality is a vast and dense constellation of memories in the galaxy of your brain. Stars are born, the age, they flare and they die and as they orbit the center; those constellations change their form and spread… and there can be many constellations in that neural galaxy.
Brett DavidsonPublished 8 years ago in FuturismIrving Wallace Predictions of That Came True
Irving Wallace is a name from the past. If you are a Gen-X kid, you may have grown up in a world where every bathroom featured The Book of Lists, Wallace’s book (with kids Amy Wallace and David Wallechinsky—he had to take the old man’s Ellis Island name, huh?) that updated to The Guinness Book of World Records in the hip 70s. Why, just yesterday, before I wrote this article, I posted for friends Irving Wallace’s mind-blowing 1972 movie The Man, in which a fateful plane accident causes president pro tempore of the Senate James Earl Jones to become the President. A black President?! 1972 America’s collective mind is blown. Halfway between the Dr. Strangelove airplane and Darth Vader, JEJ is, of course, a magnificent voice and a majestic avatar of human dignity. Burgess Meredith—you know, Rocky’s trainer—plays the evil sculduggerous Southern teabagger who plots President Vader’s ruin.
Matthew WilderPublished 8 years ago in Futurism