Showing posts with label Robert Heinlein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Heinlein. Show all posts
Thursday, May 22, 2025

Yesterday's Tomorrow

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Another glance at some futuristic inventions from fiction that have come into real existence, in this case from the cartoon series THE JETSO...
Thursday, December 05, 2024

Welcome to the Future

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Recommended for fans and writers of near-future science fiction: YOU CALL THIS THE FUTURE? THE GREATEST INVENTIONS SCI-FI IMAGINED AND SCIEN...
Thursday, November 07, 2024

One Person, One Vote?

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In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, Lord Vetinari, the Patrician who rules the largest city, embraces the principle of "one man,...
Thursday, September 26, 2024

Quantity Versus Quality?

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Are quantity and quality incompatible strategies or goals? Not according to the observations in these and other similar essays: Quantity L...
Thursday, August 15, 2024

Changing the Past

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I've recently finished the latest book by S. M. Stirling (best known for alternate history SF), a time-travel adventure, TO TURN THE TID...
Thursday, January 11, 2024

Robotic Companions

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A robotic device called ElliQ, which functions as an AI "companion" for older people, is now available for purchase by the general...
Thursday, December 21, 2023

Dangerous Gifts

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The solstice is upon us! There's hope that within a few weeks darkness will stop falling at 5 p.m. Happy winter holidays! It might see...
Thursday, November 30, 2023

Animal Facial Expressions

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A study at the University of Kansas Medical Center "discovered that cats use nearly 300 distinct facial expressions to communicate with...
Thursday, October 19, 2023

Defining Death

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I've been reading a book called WHEN THE "DEAD" ROSE IN BRITAIN, by Nicole C. Salomone. After a forty-page overview of the his...
Thursday, August 03, 2023

Retro Futures

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Watching the first few episodes of STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS, which takes place during Captain Christopher Pike's command of the Ent...
Thursday, January 26, 2023

Clones as Organ Donors

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I've recently read an excellent novel called NEVER LET ME GO, by Kazuo Ishiguro, author of THE REMAINS OF THE DAY. (I've seen the fi...
Thursday, January 12, 2023

Quest for Longevity

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The cover story of the January 2023 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, a 35-page article titled "The Science of Living Longer and Better," explo...
Thursday, October 27, 2022

Is Time Travel Impossible?

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A character in C. S. Lewis's posthumously published novel fragment THE DARK TOWER asserts it is. (Granted, one faction within Lewis scho...
Thursday, September 15, 2022

The Meaning of Money

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What gives money (or any "moneylike" form of currency) its value? What makes us willing to accept it in exchange for concrete item...
Thursday, June 30, 2022

Communicating with Pets

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Netflix has a new series called THE HIDDEN LIVES OF PETS. Although it sounds as if it should reveal what our pets do when we're not watc...
Thursday, June 09, 2022

Types of Telepathy

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In reading THE SCIENCE OF STAR TREK, by Mark Brake, I'm naturally reminded of Vulcan telepathy (not discussed much if at all in this boo...
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Thursday, May 19, 2022

Time Travel as a Curse

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If you've read Audrey Niffenegger's THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE, you know it's a highly unusual approach to time travel. In fac...
Thursday, April 21, 2022

Pregnancy Alternatives

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On this season of one of my favorite TV shows, CALL THE MIDWIFE, a recently married character just suffered a miscarriage. This episode and ...
Thursday, January 13, 2022

Luddites and SF

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The term "Luddite" is typically applied to people who oppose technological advances. That's basically what I've always ass...
Thursday, July 16, 2020

AI and Human Workers

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Cory Doctorow's latest LOCUS essay explains why he's an "AI skeptic": Full Employment He believes it highly unlikely t...