Science + Tech
Advances that redefine reality. Welcome to the future.
When Artificial Intelligence = Not Enough Intelligence
It’s a staple of science fiction: the devices made by humans run afoul of their creators by learning how humans think. From the renegade HAL9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey to the replicants in the sci-fi classic Blade Runner to the robot in the 2014 hit Ex Machina, and others besides — all would eventually achieve the same cunning and brutality as the human beings who created them.
By Michael Eric Ross7 years ago in Futurism
LOSTBOY: A Dark Dystopian Cyberpunk Short
A frantic woman, decked out in leather, spikes, and a mohawk, races through desert mist, dodging jagged pillars of cybernetic waste. On her trail is Lostboy, a cyborg hunter who's more metal than man, and has a singular objective: catching his prey.
By Mickey Rivera7 years ago in Futurism
The Lathe of Heaven Proves Idealists Can Be the Most Dangerous Among Us
I read Poland by James Michener a number of years ago and came to a startling conclusion after reading the chapters on the Nazi Occupation during World War II. I certainly know of the Holocaust and that Hitler wasn’t particularly fond of Poles in general. But I was not aware that his long term goal was to not only eradicate every single Polish person from that country but from the face of the earth. Wow. The question that then arose is how do you get an entire occupying force – especially professional soldiers and officers - to carry out such a definitive and horrific action? Well, if they think they are making the world a better place, it’s easy, and that’s what Nazi indoctrination made them think. In this, I determined that idealists can be the most dangerous among us, and that was what came to me as I watched the 1980 PBS adaptation of Ursula Le Guin’s, The Lathe of Heaven.
By Rich Monetti7 years ago in Futurism
Weirdest Characters in 'Star Wars Legends' Canon
With Star Wars: The Last Jedi fast approaching, it is clear that the Star Wars universe will be expanding and growing in the next years to come. However, for many growing up in the 80s and 90s in the aftermath of Return of the Jedi, the future of the Galaxy Far, Far Away looked far less than glamorous.
By Anthony Gramuglia7 years ago in Futurism
New Findings from Two 'Ocean Moons' Increase Possibility of Finding Alien Life
For those who are hoping to find evidence of life somewhere else in the Solar System, there was some exciting news this week. Two moons, Europa and Enceladus, were already thought to be among the best places to search, since both have liquid water oceans beneath their outer icy shells. And now, new data from the Cassini spacecraft and the Hubble Space Telescope has increased the potential for some form of living organisms to be found.
By Paul Scott Anderson7 years ago in Futurism
The Climate Change Reversal Project
By the time the sun reached its apex the temperature was well on its way to reach the predicted high of 118 degrees. For Sydney, Australia, another day of record-setting temperatures. Over three-fourths of the world's population has already been evacuated because of rising sea levels. For years now scientists have been warning about rising seas and yet too many political leaders scoffed at the idea of man-induced climate change. But now, faced with global devastation that is unprecedented in modern times it just maybe too late for Mother Earth. The human race is now on the verge of extinction. All over the world for the past few years there continues to be record-setting temperatures. Places like Seattle, Washington and even London, England have seen days on end where the temperatures have reached 110 degrees or higher. Compounding the massive heat waves, the world is witnessing increasing violent hurricanes and typhoons. Never before in recent history has the world been thrust into such an inferno.
By Dr. Williams7 years ago in Futurism
Why Time Travel Is So Enjoyable
Time travel is my favorite kind of science fiction – precisely because it’s almost certainly impossible. Not like travel to other planets, which makes great science fiction, but we're already beginning to do in reality. Or artificial intelligence and robots, which also makes for great science fiction, but we're also already beginning to do, a least little. But time travel is different because it's so likely impossible – as far we know, we're not doing any of it today, and have never done it. As far as we know, no one from the future has yet to pay us a visit. And because time travel is so likely impossible, seeing how time travel stories can work, can make sense, anyway, is a special kind of fun.
By Paul Levinson7 years ago in Futurism
Free Will Gets A Chance In The Adjustment Bureau With Matt Damon
There is no power of prayer. Given the Holocaust, the Belgium Congo and Walmart, God obviously stands by to see whether you pass the entry test. On the other hand, I believe if the world reaches an unmanageable sea change, he reluctantly sends in an Einstein or an Oppenheimer. But according to The Adjustment Bureau, a 2011 adaptation of another Philip K. Dick novel, the course of world events is closely monitored and manipulated – leaving nothing to chance in the face of free will.
By Rich Monetti7 years ago in Futurism