Stories of the future - science fiction, foresight and the future

You know, I’m not actually sure exactly what this site is about. What I do know is that within five minutes of reading through it, I found lots of nifty things to help me learn. I’d put this in the ‘rouse your curiosity and learning’ basket. A good site to visit for some quick stimulation when we need to get something new or kickstart our writing.

Visit Dumb Little Man http://www.dumblittleman.com/

About TierneyLab:

John Tierney always wanted to be a scientist but went into journalism because its peer-review process was a great deal easier to sneak through. Now a columnist for the Science Times section, Tierney previously wrote columns for the Op-Ed page, the Metro section and the Times Magazine. Before that he covered science for magazines like Discover, Hippocrates and Science 86.

With your help, he’s using TierneyLab to check out new research and rethink conventional wisdom about science and society.

Visit TierneyLab at this link: http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/

The Age Of Spiritual Machines is a book by futurist Ray Kurzweil about the future course of humanity, particularly relating to the development of artificial intelligence and its impact on human consciousness. It is also a study on the concept of ’singularity’.

Originally published in 1999, the book predicts that machines with human-like intelligence will be available from affordable computing devices within a couple of decades, revolutionising most aspects of life, and that eventually humanity and its machinery will become one and the same.

Not exactly Sunday bedtime reading, but if you want something to stretch your mindscape before seeing films like ‘IRobot’, this may be the one.

It’s weekly, so you may find it hard t o find the time to get through it, but when you’re lost for ideas, a quick flick through may boost your creativity. I especially liked the article from 9 September 2006 on the ‘Relativity Drive - The End of Wings and Wheels’. Take a look at the site at New Scientist.

This weekly podcast provides fresh insights into science topics of popular and scientific interest. It’s also a real treat to listen to! Ira Flatow is one of the best radio hosts I’ve heard.

Below I’ve included an extract from his bio. Listening to Science Friday you just know that he’s still that kid! I’ve picked up many ideas from this show which have ended up in my stories.

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I know there are a stack of advertisements in this magazine, but I love it. There’s so much visual material here to get those story ideas churning. It’s a gadgeteers heaven. Wired NextFest, the annual exhibition of new technologies shaping the future, is equally interesting. And, the ‘Found: Artifacts From The Future’ image on the last cover is a favourite for SF writers. I’ll be subscribing for a long time yet to Wired.

If you’re like me, you love to scan websites to find great ideas about the future. The more remote the ideas (those weak signals of change, which are far out on the horizon), the more intriguing they are. Well, the Future Edition from The Arlington Institute provides highlights of new directions from the future, covering diverse sectors (technology, the economy, politics, etc) of society. Definitely worth subscribing to through their website .