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Most recently published stories in Futurism.
Dune Art Sites to Follow
Frank Herbet was born in 1920. Growing up during the Great Depression, his young mind could envision worlds and histories that no man had walked on and no civilization had experienced. But even the prophetic visions he had did not foretell the social media age; a period in which his imagination would become indelibly etched into the digital universe. A period in which Tumblr, Facebook, and Pinterest would preserve and evolve the worlds he created.
By Futurism Staff10 years ago in Futurism
Star Trek Sex
Space is the sexual frontier. In Will Stape's Star Trek Sex: Analyzing the Most Sexually Charged Episodes of the Original Series, he explores the fun, sexy, flashy, and lusty world of the original Trek. Covering important and sexually charged moments in the series, Stape analyzes each scene within the Star Trek universe, while focusing on the sexual human (and inhuman) play that has made Star Trek into the beloved and iconic franchise that it is today. Read Stape's five favorite excerpts below…
By Will Stape10 years ago in Futurism
Sci-Fi Artist Vincent Di Fate
A painter of fantastic futures and one of the world's leading visionaries of speculative fiction is sci-fi artist Vincent Di Fate. His work embodies an unrivaled vintage appeal that recalls when drive-in movie theaters scared milkshake-drinking teenagers across the United States. The New York-born artist invented worlds where finned-starships en route to the Messina Dust Cloud sit idly as desperate astronauts shiver awaiting their rescue. Cybernetic humans mutilate their own bodies to integrate with the overwhelming electronic world. Saturn's majestic rings capture irises in their gravity as onlookers gaze from the moon Iapetus. Di Fate has an enormous portfolio stretching across the world of speculative fiction, with more than 3,000 published works of science fiction, astronomical, and aerospace subjects. Considered by many to be one of the coolest sci-fi illustrators, the honors B-movies from the 1950's while envisioning a future life in the cosmos.
By Natasha Sydor10 years ago in Futurism
Roadside Picnic and Stalker Similarities
In the eyes of science fiction author Ray Bradbury, the only crime worse than burning books is not reading them at all. We all remember books our own way. Focusing, forgetting, glazing over, missing parallels, inventing others; we embellish. When talking about a book with other people, I often wonder if we even read the same book—or, somehow, two things with the same title by the same author. It’s like we’ve both seen a whale in the water at one point in our lives, and we’re trying to determine the shape of its eyes. Obviously, there's some overlap, a little play in the bones, but it’s more of a Venn diagram than a flowchart, a sort of private film that plays for each reader, renewed with each read, every scan a fresh translation. Neither film nor literature exists as Object. Rather, each can be reduced to a set of stimuli floating in space, never in one place at one time. Not even at the site of mind.
By Reynard Seifert10 years ago in Futurism
Religious Fanaticism is Dangerous
The difference between religious fundamentalism and fanaticism is belief and action. One could be a fundamentalist in any given religion and believe in the literal truth of their holy scriptures. Most Christians, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish people follow this strict dogma. For the most part, fundamentalists act within society's law, and while it may pain them that secular society doesn't adhere to God's will, they recognize and respect that they are part of a larger collective. Fanatics, on the other hand, are an extremist sub-set of fundamentalists who see only their own point of view. They seek to force their ideology on others through intimidation and are more than happy to break the law and commit religious blasphemy, including, murder in the name of their God. From the Medieval Holy Crusades to modern-day terrorists committing atrocities in the name of Islam, to illegal Israeli settlement in the Gaza strip and right-wing Christian groups threatening US government from within, it seems that strict adherence to one's holy book of choice has been a source of much division throughout human history. It's interesting to think how many great scientific discoveries would have happened centuries earlier, if not for religion? What if Copernicus and Galileo were never tried as heretics?
By George Gott10 years ago in Futurism
The Watcher
From the dome of his mile-long tower, peeking above the cracked earth of a former schoolyard, Dalen studied a wall of sulfuric storm clouds overshadowing the husks of Chicago’s skyline. One level below, a window wrapped around the tower’s shaft overlooked the hidden city, laid out like the layers of an onion. Were the city lifted to the surface, it would look like a giant toy top. The carved streets and homes lay open like a labyrinth, lit by cauldrons of engineered glowworms hanging from the cavern ceiling.
By Sequoia Nagamatsu10 years ago in Futurism
Deadliest Places on Earth
Earth is a beautiful place. Rolling dirt-tracks through forests fill us with wonder; a fresh fall of snow brings out the pearly whites of our smiles and anyone who has ever climbed a mountain to gaze upon the sprawling, living lands below knows the uplifting gratification of that sight. Earth is also more deadly than we can fathom: natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes are unavoidable, unforgivable, and will always decimate populations without care or notice, but many troubles we cause for ourselves. We’ve created ghost-towns, cost the lives of millions, and been ravaged by the tumultuous venom of Mother Nature. The hubris of war has rendered many places on Earth unfit for humans, from Bikini Atoll destroyed by nuclear testing, to the Anthrax-riddled Soviet island of Vozrozhdeniya. But it doesn't take Cold War weapons research to render a place completely barren. Sometimes industries can wreak havoc just as permanent as war.
By Jake Burgess10 years ago in Futurism
H.E.L.G.A. - A Tale of Artificial Intelligence
December 20 - 5:32 AM (Miami time) 10:32 GMT An Undisclosed Secure Location Up to this point, HELGA had been following the complex set of instructions which Jay-L created for her as part of an emergency action list to be executed in the event that he could not be located. Part of the list of tasks included several methods of determining the nature of Jay-L’s disappearance. If the circumstances surrounding his absence were suspicious, then she had very specific orders she was to follow. Once she determined the high likelihood that Jay-L was being pursued for capture by the Special Forces Delta Group, under direct order of the U.S. President, a whole new set of options became available to her as a means of responding. However, HELGA had finally exhausted the myriad of options on that detailed list of instructions which Jay-L had prepared in the event of his capture at the hands of the government.
By Lucian Randolph10 years ago in Futurism
Meteorites and Asteroids Facts
With all the unknown objects and happenings beyond our control going on in outer space, as human beings we can’t help but wonder what the chances are of extraterrestrial disasters having a significant impact on Earth. Every day, people die from the strangest things, but for some reason we’re inclined to believe that there’s a looming possibility of life ending because of space rocks. So for those curious about astronomical catastrophes affecting our beloved planet, here are a few things to note:
By Futurism Staff10 years ago in Futurism
Ben Bova Interview
"Don't ask your readers to admire your words when you want them to believe your story." Science Fiction author Ben Bova realized that the general rules of science - don't add an experiment to an experiment, and don't make things overly complicated - also applied to science fiction. His theory certainly brought him success. Starting out as a technical writer for Project Vanguard in the 1950's, Ben Bova went on to become a successor to John W. Campbell as editor of editor of Analog Science Fact & Fiction where he won six Hugo Awards. Throughout his career he authored over 120 books on science fact and science fiction, worked as editorial director for OMNI magazine, and was president of both the National Space Society and the Science Fiction Writers of America. He has appeared as the Guest of Honor at the Florida convention Necronomicon on two separate occasions, and in 2000, he attended the 58th World Science Fiction Convention as the Author Guest of Honor.
By Claire Evans10 years ago in Futurism
Can Science Prove Souls Exist?
There is a soul. Ironically, it was the skeptical world of science that has helped prove the theological doctrine of the spiritual world. The moment of astral disembodiment in which the energy of the soul leaves the body has been captured by legendary Russian scientist, Konstantin Korotkov. A bio-electrographic camera was utilized to photograph an individual at the exact time of death. Using the gas discharge visualization method, an advanced technique of Kirlian photography shows the life force of the person leaving the body gradually.
By Futurism Staff10 years ago in Futurism
