Futurism

Find out when your house will be overtaken by rising seas

Sea levels are on the rise. Is your home at risk of being submerged in the next 10, 50, 100, 300 years? The New York Times is featuring a great interactive applet that will help you find out. Unlike Surging Seas (the similarly themed applet launched by the folks at Climate Central earlier this year),…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

The Future Is Not Accelerating

I have some bad news and some good news for you about the future. First, the bad news. The future is not coming at us any faster than it ever has. We will not become immortal cyborgs with superintelligent computer friends in the next twenty years. The good news is that means we have a…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Could this “immortal” jellyfish unlock the secret to human life extension?

Nathan Rich of the New York Times has put together an article about the apparent “immortal” jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, and how insights into its lifecycle could eventually lead to powerful rejuvenation therapies for humans. Not only is this article a must-read from the perspective of radical life extension, it’s also a beautifully written pean to…

io9 George Dvorsky

The Skylon space plane just got that much closer to reality

It’s been a while since we last reported on the British Skylon space plane — a reusable launch vehicle that will be powered by a two-in-one air-breathing rocket engine that can boost the plane to Mach 5.5 and a height of nearly 30 km (18 miles). The latest news is that the theoretic Sabre Engine…

io9 George Dvorsky

A Robot That You Can Train to Do Almost Anything

We’re still a fair ways off from having domestic robots that can fold our laundry, or empty the dishwasher. Part of the problem, aside from the mechanical challenges, is developing a robot that’s smart enough and adaptable enough to learn simple tasks — a cognitive skill that’s called artificial general intelligence. But as a new…

io9 George Dvorsky

What’s creepier than swimming alongside an aquatic snake? A mechanical aquatic snake

When the pending robopocalypse strikes, you may be tempted to seek refuge in the water. Don’t do it — and watch this video to see why. It’s the HiBot ACM-R5 robotic snake, a twirling and swirling amphibious machine developed by Japanese researchers. And what’s just as remarkable (or is that horrifying?) is that it can…

io9 George Dvorsky

A robot overlord’s most dangerous quality is not necessarily malevolence

Philosophy profesor Huw Price has cofounded a project with astrophysicist Martin Rees that will seek to push the risks that technology could one day pose to humans “forward in the respectable scientific community.” Via The Associated Press: Philosophers and scientists at Britain’s Cambridge University think the question deserves serious study. A proposed Center for the…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Humanity+ @ San Francisco conference starts next week — and io9 will be there!

Humanity+, an organization that advocates the ethical use of technology to expand human capacities, is holding their annual conference next weekend from December 1-2 at the Seven Hills Conference Center at SF State in San Francisco. The theme for this year’s confab is “Writing the Future” — and seeing as that’s exactly what we do…

io9 George Dvorsky

“If It Hadn’t Been for Those Kids”: Red Dawn, Rebooted

All apocalyptic stories are about wish fulfillment to some extent. But Red Dawn, opening today, is the purest jolt of wish-fulfillment I’ve seen in ages, about the fall of America and the rise of some plucky kids who Suck It Up and Do What Must Be Done. This is an action movie so ridiculous, it…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Here are the most futuristic European cities that never existed

There is nothing more fascinating than yesterday’s vision of tomorrow — especially when it comes to city design. Here are some of the most incredible futuristic cities imagined by great European designers of the twentieth century and before. We hope that they came to fruition in some alternate timeline. Le Corbusier: Contemporary City For Three…

io9 Vincze Miklós

Researchers design a robot to explore the moon’s mysterious volcanic caverns

Three years ago, Japanese researchers discovered a cavern on the moon using the SELENE satellite. It’s estimated that the subterranean structure is 65 meters wide and at least 80 meters in depth. Given that it’s too deep to be a crater, and that it was likely carved by lava, it’s a natural cavern that’s just…

io9 George Dvorsky

Despite his own mental illness, Nikola Tesla advocated eugenics for the year 2100

Nikola Tesla is often cited as geekdom’s favorite inventor—advocate of alternating current, pursuer of wireless electricity and the death ray—but some of his beliefs about the future of science and culture wouldn’t be quite so popular today. In addition to his predictions about labor-saving robots and his claims that his death ray would put an…

io9 Lauren Davis

Farewell to Twinkies, America’s most futuristic food

Today Hostess, maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs and HoHos and every other geometrically precise cake, announced it was closing its doors. You have less than a week to buy your last Twinkie before the troubled corporation vanishes forever. It’s not just the end of a company. It’s the end of an era of food…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Researchers create a thought controlled robotic avatar

Researchers from France and Japan have taken us one step closer to an Avatar-like future by developing a robot that can be controlled by thought alone. While it’s primarily intended for severely paralyzed people, there’s no doubt that this technology will eventually be used by pretty much everyone else — whether it be to travel…

io9 George Dvorsky

A first: An electric car has been awarded Motor Trend’s top prize

If anyone ever doubted that electric cars were the future, those concerns can now officially be laid to rest. Tesla’s luxury Sedan, the Model S, has just captured one of the auto industry’s most prestigious awards by taking home Motor Trend’s Car of the Year honors for 2013. It marks the first time that an…

io9 George Dvorsky

Futurist Magazine unveils its predictions for 2013 and beyond

The World Future Society‘s official magazine, The Futurist, has released its annual top 10 list of forecasts for the coming year and beyond (they typically make their prognostications within a ten-year window). This year’s crop features a diverse mixture of items related to business, economics, demography, energy, the environment, and health and medicine. And if…

io9 George Dvorsky

Do science fiction writers have “expertise” on future developments in science?

A recent article in Slate deals with the question of whether the internet could ever become the first artificial intelligence, perhaps by “waking up” one day as a mind. Dan Falk, the author of this article, was clearly inspired by Robert Sawyer’s WWW trilogy, about just this scenario. Falk interviews Sawyer, as well as some…

io9 Annalee Newitz

This new artificial limb is powered by rocket fuel

Just wait until Paralympian Oscar Pistorius gets his hands on this: A team of mechanical engineers has created an prosthetic leg that is powered by a special type of liquid fuel called a monopropellant — the same kind of fuel that gives rockets their thrust. The new device could usher in the next generation of…

io9 George Dvorsky

Raccoon laborers and plants designed for climate change: Charles Stross’ Predictions for 2512

While science fiction writers aren’t necessarily out to predict the future, every now and then, author Charles Stross sits down and speculates on what the near or far future might hold. This week, Stross has peered into the middle distance, imagining what Earth might look like in 500. He sees a world very different from…

io9 Lauren Davis

Pentagon To Replace Mine-Clearing Dolphins With Robots

The US Navy has used dolphins to help locate — and in some cases destroy — sea mines for nearly 50 years. But now, due to escalating costs and a viable robotic alternative, the Sea Mammal Program is finally set to be retired. Back in the 1960s, the Navy learned to exploit dolphins, by tapping…

io9 George Dvorsky

Find out when your house will be overtaken by rising seas

The Future Is Not Accelerating

Could this “immortal” jellyfish unlock the secret to human life extension?

The Skylon space plane just got that much closer to reality

A Robot That You Can Train to Do Almost Anything

What’s creepier than swimming alongside an aquatic snake? A mechanical aquatic snake

A robot overlord’s most dangerous quality is not necessarily malevolence

Humanity+ @ San Francisco conference starts next week — and io9 will be there!

“If It Hadn’t Been for Those Kids”: Red Dawn, Rebooted

Here are the most futuristic European cities that never existed

Researchers design a robot to explore the moon’s mysterious volcanic caverns

Despite his own mental illness, Nikola Tesla advocated eugenics for the year 2100

Farewell to Twinkies, America’s most futuristic food

Researchers create a thought controlled robotic avatar

A first: An electric car has been awarded Motor Trend’s top prize

Futurist Magazine unveils its predictions for 2013 and beyond

Do science fiction writers have “expertise” on future developments in science?

This new artificial limb is powered by rocket fuel

Raccoon laborers and plants designed for climate change: Charles Stross’ Predictions for 2512

Pentagon To Replace Mine-Clearing Dolphins With Robots

Fitbit Versa 4 Drops to a Record Low as Google Makes Another Push into Fitness Smartwatches Following the Pixel Watch

JBL Boombox 4 Speaker Didn’t Stay at Full Price for Long as Amazon’s Spring Sale Pushes It Close to Used Pricing

Final Call: Get NordVPN at $266 Off + Amazon Gift Card (Few Days Left)

C-3PO’s Head From ‘Empire Strikes Back’ Sold for a Cool Million

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Delivers Fast Speeds, Low Monthly Prices and Cash Back

Trump Says He’ll Sign Order to Pay TSA

Deadpool Will Deface ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Classics for a New Secret Lair

Apple’s Siri Isn’t Just Going to Use One Chatbot. It’s Going to Use All of Them

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

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