Futurism

These Futuristic Buildings Reveal the Soviets’ Vision for Tomorrow

The Soviet Era in Russia and Central Europe was a time for weird futurism — especially when it came to urban architecture. These buildings reveal what the Soviets imagined the cities of tomorrow would look like. The Derzhprom (or Gosprom) building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, designed by Sergei Serafimov, M. Felger and S. Kravets, completed in…

Humanity Is Now Officially Ready For Suspended Animation

Surgeons from the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are set to begin suspended animation trials by dramatically cooling down trauma victims in an effort to keep them alive during critical operations. Twenty years ago, Peter Safar and Ron Bellamy proposed that the rapid induction of hypothermia could “buy time” for a trauma surgical team…

Twentieth Century Futurism Looks Really Bizarre Now

What kinds of houses will we build in 100 years? Looking at these illustrations and movies about homes of the future, you realize how much the twentieth century vision of tomorrow differs from the twenty-first century one. Spherical houses from the September, 1934 issue of Everyday Science and Mechanics If spherical, the house of the…

The Livestock Of The Future Will Be Insects

When you think of livestock, cattle, pigs, and sheep are probably the first animals to spring to mind. But it might be time to start thinking smaller. No, not chickens. Even smaller: Insects. Entomologist, and edible insect expert, Arnold van Huis joined us today to take our questions about why (and how) we would all…

What Should We Do with the Online Undead?

The Internet has given us a kind of digital afterlife, where our online activities can be preserved and memorialized like fossils in a rock. We talked to an expert about how your friends, family, and complete strangers will use the Internet to remember you long after you’re gone. One person who’s given this subject considerable…

Breakthrough: Synthetic Meat Made From Stem Cells

Last year, scientists created the world’s first lab-grown burger — and by all accounts it didn’t taste half bad. Sadly, the cost of a single patty ran upwards of $385,000. Now, European researchers have developed a small-scale manufacturing technique for synthetic meat that could eventually prove revolutionary. The global demand for meat is steadily increasing.…

These Are The Surprising Jobs You’ll Be Doing By The 2030s

As our technological and sociological realities change, so too do our jobs. But just what, exactly, will we be doing 15 years from now? Here are some completely unexpected jobs you’ve almost certainly never heard of—but likely will soon. Indeed, the landscape of careers is changing. But knowing which vocations are around the corner is…

Venture Capital Firm Appoints Machine Intelligence As Board Member

Hong Kong based venture capital firm Deep Knowledge Ventures (DKV) has appointed a machine learning program to its board. Called VITAL, it’s an “equal member” that will uncover trends “not immediately obvious to humans” in order to make investment recommendations. This is probably an attempt to attract media attention, but it could truly be the…

Lucid Dreaming Can Be Induced By Zapping Brains With Gamma Waves

By administering mild electric currents to the brain, neuroscientists from Frankfurt University have successfully induced self-awareness in sleeping volunteers. Amazingly, the technique could be used to help people take better control of their dreams. But it’s also a discovery that’s offering critical insights into the very nature of consciousness itself. Gamma waves have been linked…

The Space Gun Was Conceived 199 Years Ago

In 1815 the British artist Edward Francis Burney (1760-1848) published a book of drawings called Q.Q. Esq.’s Journey to the Moon. In spite of the less-than-serious nature of the illustrated story, Burney put some thought into his launch system. In what is apparently the earliest tale about a “space gun” ever written, Burney used the…

This Robotic Catching Arm Can React In Less Than 500ths Of A Second

Developed by EPFL researchers, this robot is capable of reacting on the fly and grasping objects with complex shapes and trajectories. Incredibly, it’s equipped with a learning algorithm that allows it to be taught by humans. To make it work, EPFL researchers first taught the robot how to predict the trajectory of a moving object.…

Woman Beaten to Death After Being Accused of Witchcraft on Facebook

At last Facebook has brought us back to the middle ages, just as we knew it would. A woman in the Brazilian city Guarujá, near São Paolo, was beaten to death last week after Facebook rumors circulated that she was a witch. A local news outlet, Guarujá Alerta, posted a rumor on its Facebook page…

The Pentagon’s “Star Wars” Robotic Arm Just Got FDA Approval

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the DEKA Arm System for amputees. Named in honor of Luke Skywalker, it’s the first prosthetic arm that can carry out simultaneous multiple movements triggered by a person’s electrical signals. The device was developed by New Hampshire-based DEKA Research and Development Corp, which was founded by Dean…

How Popular Will Your Name Be In The Coming Decades?

Popular names comes and go like the wind, making it next to impossible to know which ones will endure or make a comeback. A new Baby Name Predictor attempts to solve this problem by determining which names will rise and fall in popularity over the next 25 years. This tool, which can be found at…

The Universe Is A Pretty Violent Place

In the latest episode of It’s Okay to be Smart, Joe Hanson takes a look at the far future of Earth, our solar neighborhood, the Milky Way and the Universe at large. Writes Hanson: It’s natural to wonder what the future has in store for us. While we may not be able to predict what…

Kelly Richardson’s Beautiful Futuristic Landscapes Hide A Dark Secret

Kelly Richardson has exhibited her video installations at galleries all over the world. Captivating, silent visions of alien worlds and futuristic landscapes, her art seems calming and contemplative — but when you look further, you find something sinister. A warning about what awaits, if we don’t change course. Top image: The Last Frontier, 2013. Photo…

This plastic heals itself through a process that’s eerily reminiscent of blood clotting. It contains a network of capillaries that deliver healing chemicals to damaged areas. So in the future, the cracked screen of your phone could mend itself. Image: Nathan Bajandas/Beckman Institute/University of Illinois You may also enjoy:

This Wickedly Fast Running Robot Is Now Commercially Available

Meet OutRunner — a sleek star-shaped robot you can use to mercilessly hunt down your friends. It’s the world’s first remotely controlled legged running robot that’s commercially available to the public. The remarkable device, which was developed by Pensacola, Florida’s Robotics Unlimited, is capable of self-balancing, reaching speeds around 20 mph (32 kph) on almost…

The Future Is Going To Be Slightly Less Fun Than You Hoped

Forget everything you think you know about what the future will be like. This latest video from Fox’s Animation Domination HD will show you exactly what tomorrow holds with brutal honesty — emphasis on the brutal.

IBM’s Watson Can Now Debate Its Opponents

Since defeating the world’s greatest Jeopardy players, IBM’s Watson has been busy at work in the healthcare industry. But now, the artificially intelligent computer has undergone a fairly substantive upgrade — one that enables it not just to extract information, but to “understand” and reason from it as well. Last week at the Milken Institute…