Futurism

This “lost” interview with Ray Bradbury is the best thing you’ll listen to today

One of Ray Bradbury’s lesser-known interviews also happens to be one of his last, and it is positively wonderful to experience. In 2010, the literary giant was interviewed by Sam Weller (his official biographer) at San Diego Comic Con. The then-89-year-old Bradbury spent a little over an hour ruminating on life, love, space exploration, and…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Oscar Pistorius loses gold medal race, blames it on opponent’s use of technology

They say that turnabout is fair play. And indeed, after all the talk that Oscar Pistorius’s prosthetic Cheetah’s were giving him an unfair advantage against normal functioning athletes, it would appear that he has himself become the victim of an opponent with a technological edge. https://gizmodo.com/will-oscar-pistorius-prosthetic-legs-give-him-an-unfair-5928715 This past Sunday September 2 at the Paralympic Games…

io9 George Dvorsky

Futurists set up charitable fund to help terminally ill woman get cryonically preserved

Several weeks ago, 23-year old Kim Suozzi asked the Reddit community what she should do with the last few months of her life. Suozzi, who has terminal brain cancer, is only expected to live for another three to six months, making her request all the more urgent. Among the many responses received, Suozzi was particularly…

io9 George Dvorsky

Yes, marriages can include more than two people

In Brazil, a judge has recognized the right of three people to form a marriage. No, this isn’t a polygamy kind of deal where one man has multiple wives. It’s an egalitarian arrangement between three private people who aren’t seeking publicity of any kind. They just want to be married to each other. According to…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Are the Paralympics a celebration of superhumans, or a modern freakshow?

Check out this commercial put together by Paralympic organizers who are trying very hard to cast the Games and its athletes in a completely new light. Rather than framing Paralympians as being somehow deficient or inadequate, they’re now being portrayed as elite athletes endowed with superhuman capacities. At the same time, however, there are some…

io9 George Dvorsky

How Self-Sustaining Space Habitats Could Save Humanity from Extinction

This planet can’t protect us forever. Sooner or later, there’ll be a catastrophe that renders this world uninhabitable for humans. And when that day comes, we’ll need to know already how to live in space. Yesterday, we explained why we should reboot the Biosphere 2 projects of the 1990s. There are a lot of scientific…

io9 George Dvorsky

Who should pay when your robot breaks the law?

Robots are unquestioningly getting more sophisticated by the year, and as a result, are becoming an indelible part of our daily lives. But as we start to increase our interactions and dependance on robots, an important question needs to be asked: What would happen if a robot actually committed a crime, or even hurt someone…

io9 George Dvorsky

‘Airpod’ concept car runs on compressed air

India’s Tata Motors is working on a revolutionary new concept car that looks like a cross between a 2001 space pod and the Alvin deep sea explorer. But unlike those vehicles, this one runs on compressed air — a power source that could create a viable alternative to electric cars, in terms of its affordability…

io9 George Dvorsky

Billionaire Peter Thiel invests in the development of 3D printed meat

The prospect of lab-grown meat has intrigued both vegetarians and environmentalists for years. Humans eat about 240 billion kilograms of meat each year — a voracious demand for animal protein that has resulted in environmental degradation, cruelty to livestock, and the spread of dangerous diseases. And now, owing to a $350,000 donation by the Thiel…

io9 George Dvorsky

The Rise of the Three-Parent Family

Babies with three parents are no longer the stuff of science fiction. A British ethics board has just approved an experimental treatment that results in babies with genetic material from two women and one man. Also, there’s evidence that babies born using egg and sperm donors receive genetic input from more than two parents. https://gizmodo.com/controversial-fertility-treatment-requiring-three-genet-5917822…

io9 Annalee Newitz

An Exclusive Look at How Bryan Singer’s H+ is Reimagining Transhumanism

It’s like something out of your Cyberpunk dreams — a painlessly injected implant that connects your nervous system to the internet. But in Bryan Singer’s new webseries H+, which just launched recently, it all goes horribly wrong. This brain implant kills. But even before everyone’s implants get infected with some kind of virus, what does…

Television Charlie Jane Anders

Forget the “Busy Trap” — you’re trapped way worse than that

There’s been a popular meme going around lately about the “Busy Trap” — the idea that we’re all keeping busy with meaningless junk like checking our email or doing random tasks, and that this is somehow a lifestyle choice. But a new essay by Mark Fisher, “Time Wars,” makes a persuasive case that our chronic…

Movies Charlie Jane Anders

Would it be boring if we could live forever?

Some futurists predict that we’ll be able to halt the aging process by the end of this century — if not sooner. The prospect of creating an ageless society is certainly not without its critics, with concerns ranging from the environmental right through to the spiritual. One of the most common objections to radical life…

io9 George Dvorsky

Holograms could soon replace airport workers

Meet AVA — the airport virtual assistant stands ready to help you out in Newark and La Guardia airports, and soon JFK. This virtual guide, also called a hologram virtual assistant, is created by projecting onto a six-foot-tall human-shaped piece of plexiglass. At the moment, she’s only an information kiosk that spouts a prerecorded message…

io9 Amanda Yesilbas

Custom-built Hoverbike prototypes are now available for purchase

Back in June of last year we told you about Chris Malloy’s awesome Hoverbike, a Star Wars Speeder-like aircraft that is ridden like a motorcycle but has ducted fans at the front and back instead of wheels. While the Hoverbike cannot be purchased commercially (yet), Malloy is offering to construct custom built versions for people…

io9 George Dvorsky

American Cyborg documentary ventures into the pioneering world of basement body hackers

Ben Popper has put together an intriguing short documentary for The Verge in which he visits the bizarre and mysterious world of “basement body hackers.” Called Cyborg America, the short film explores the mindset and work of pioneering DIY transhumanist body modders, in addition to offering background insights into the movement and the key players…

io9 George Dvorsky

Singaporean ad campaign promotes sex in this awkward music video

In the dystopian future, as the human population plummets, we’ll need PSAs to remind us to get laid. Apparently that future is here, at least in Singapore, a nation whose birth rate is one of the lowest in the world. Now a local ad agency, with the help of Mentos, is trying to jumpstart a…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Study shows that robots suffer from sexism

Robots of the future take note: Humans will stereotype you and assign you gender roles depending on how male or female you look. We know this because a new study conducted by German psychologists demonstrated that people will continue to apply their prejudices even to those objects that are completely devoid of actual sexual traits.…

io9 George Dvorsky

A Timeline that Shows How Recent Science Fiction Has Changed Future History

You’ve seen lots of timelines of “future history” before — but they tend to be mostly drawing from the classics by people like Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke. But over at The Awl, Jane Hu has compiled a future timeline, which draws heavily on recent publications like Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2312 and Paolo Bacigalupi’s Wind-Up…

Books & Comics Charlie Jane Anders

What it’s like to turn into a robot at work — literally

Rachel Emma Silverman has penned a fascinating article for The Wall Street Journal in which she describes what it was like to go to work using a telecommuting robot. She embarked on the project to see how feasible it would be to work and collaborate in this way, and to see if it would make…

io9 George Dvorsky

This “lost” interview with Ray Bradbury is the best thing you’ll listen to today

Oscar Pistorius loses gold medal race, blames it on opponent’s use of technology

Futurists set up charitable fund to help terminally ill woman get cryonically preserved

Yes, marriages can include more than two people

Are the Paralympics a celebration of superhumans, or a modern freakshow?

How Self-Sustaining Space Habitats Could Save Humanity from Extinction

Who should pay when your robot breaks the law?

‘Airpod’ concept car runs on compressed air

Billionaire Peter Thiel invests in the development of 3D printed meat

The Rise of the Three-Parent Family

An Exclusive Look at How Bryan Singer’s H+ is Reimagining Transhumanism

Forget the “Busy Trap” — you’re trapped way worse than that

Would it be boring if we could live forever?

Holograms could soon replace airport workers

Custom-built Hoverbike prototypes are now available for purchase

American Cyborg documentary ventures into the pioneering world of basement body hackers

Singaporean ad campaign promotes sex in this awkward music video

Study shows that robots suffer from sexism

A Timeline that Shows How Recent Science Fiction Has Changed Future History

What it’s like to turn into a robot at work — literally

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

Why ‘For All Mankind’ Season 5 Is the Key to the Rest of the Series

ASUS ZenScreen 15.6-Inch Portable Monitor Is Now Cheaper Than Black Friday in Amazon’s Big Spring Sale

Early Wildfires Are Surging Across the US—and Trump’s New Fire Agency Isn’t Ready

INIU Brings Another Power Bank to the Spring Sale as SnapGo Keychain Portable Charger Drops to Its Lowest Price

Attorney Hit With Historic Fine for Citing AI-Generated Cases

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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