Futurism

Intel Is Developing Brain Implants So You Can Channel Surf With Your Mind

Chipmaker Intel is throwing a ton of cash into developing brain implants to help people send text messages with their minds. They are also predicting these implants will be the main way you turn on the TV in 10 years. According to Computerworld: Scientists at Intel’s research lab in Pittsburgh are working to find ways…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Get Inside Lady Gaga’s Gorgeous Futuristic Bath House Of Horror

Check out Lady Gaga‘s gorgeously painful sterile bath house from her new video "Bad Romance." See her stripped, cleansed and then marketed to a host of metal jawed men. For scene-by-scene break down check out Jezebel’s recap.

io9 Meredith Woerner

The Future of Vancouver Takes Shape

In the misty distance is the gleaming sphere of Science World, and in the foreground is Vancouver’s ultra-green Olympic Village, which planners say will hold 16,000 people by 2020. They’ll eat food grown on roofs and drink reclaimed rainwater. The village is located in the heart of Vancouver. Here are some of the green features…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The New York Times Columnist Who’s Helping To Ruin The Future

Why is John Tierney so skeptical, and yet so gullible? The New York Times’ science columnist is one of the most vocal global-warming doubters in the media, but when it comes to Ray Kurzweil‘s Singularity and geo-hacking, he’s suddenly wide-eyed. People often lump Tierney together with George Will, as global-warming doubters at major newspapers who…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

AI Expert Says We Should Welcome An Economic Takeover By Robots

In a recent post for the Foresight Institute, AI researcher J. Storrs Hall talks about the four different kinds of AI that might eventually surpass humans as planetary overlords. But he’s not worried: The key thing to remember when thinking about the economic AI takeover is that it is not something we should be trying…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Keep from Getting Lost with Wired’s Map of the Future

The future could be a confusing place, filled with virtual worlds, global infrastructure, new economic systems, and interspecies communication. Fortunately, Wired Italia’s latest infographic maps out one possible vision of the future, so you won’t get lost amidst the changes. Density Design created this infographic for the new issue of Wired Italia based on predictions…

io9 Lauren Davis

Pirate Agricultures of the California Coast

When every crop has to be licensed from patent owners like Monsanto, only those practiced in the art of pirate agriculture will have reasonably-priced food. This gorgeous series of photographs from Mendocino’s pot harvest might be a glimpse of that future. Photographer Mathieu Young took these intimate pictures of a small pot farm at harvest…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The Internet’s Already Killed The Mainstream Media, And It’s Academics’ Turn Next!

Someone asks economics blogger Tyler Cowen what applied economic research will look like in 50 years, when computers will be much, much smarter at crunching data and figuring out the relationships between datasets without any human intervention. And Cowen basically replies that we’ll almost all be out of a job: I believe with p =…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Are the Novel’s Days Numbered?

In Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury envisioned a future where society had abandoned literature in favor of watching their screens. According to writer Philip Roth, we’re getting closer to that future, and in 25 years, hardly anyone will be reading novels. Roth has declared the novel all but doomed, saying that within 25 years, its audience…

io9 Lauren Davis

Will Women Rule Over Men In The Future?

In the next month, women will overtake men in the labor workforce, according to statistics from the US Labor Department. Way back in the 1950s, a science fiction author predicted what would happen when this came to pass. Over at Hilobrow, Joshua Glenn writes: What does this mean for men, you ask? John Broome, author…

io9 Annalee Newitz

We’re Heading For A New Cold War, Argues Futurist

Strap yourself in: We’re in for the return of Cold War politics, the rise of new dominant powers, and a full-blown space war, according to a new book. What are the chances his dire predictions will come true? Written in 20 year increments, The Next 100 Years by George Friedman looks out over our coming…

io9 Andrew Liptak

Karl Schroeder Talks About Futurism vs. Science Fiction

Science fiction writer Karl Schroeder, author of The Sunless Countries (reviewed here), is earning his masters degree in “strategic foresight,” or futurism, at the Ontario College of Art and Design. He told us about how futurism is influencing his work. https://gizmodo.com/crowdsourcing-leads-to-madness-in-the-sunless-countrie-5376577 io9: Tell us about how you got into futurism. Karl Schroeder: Around 2005 the…

io9 Annalee Newitz

The Man Who Predicted Handheld Computers In 1980

The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction awarded its $2,010 prize for the reader whose prediction (in 1980) of the world of 2010 came closest to reality. The winner? Allen MacNeill, who predicted handheld computers… sort of. Actually, reading Locus Magazine’s write-up, it sounds like MacNeill predicted handheld devices connected to a mainframe, which was…

io9 Charlie Jane Anders

Everything You Wanted to Know About the Future of Sex

This week marks the third annual Arse Elektronika conference, an extravaganza devoted to sex, technology, futurism, and orgasmic robots. If you’re in the San Francisco area October 1-4, don’t miss the naughty, geeky weirdness. This year’s Arse features performances and presentations from a ton of amazing folks, including R.U. Sirius, Jonathon Keats, Ani Niow, Jason…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Welcome to the Future Metropolis

Cities contain highly-concentrated human activity. That’s why they represent our glorious, high-tech future – and threaten us with dystopian social collapse. This week on io9, our Future Metro section explores the wonder of cities in fiction, art, and real life. One of the most haunting images from recent science fiction is the garbage city where…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Night Shade Books’ Jeremy Lassen on the Future of Book-Buying

Night Shade Books is a small press that’s quickly getting bigger. Known for edgy novels, they’ve also published heavy-hitters like Iain M. Banks. And editor-in-chief Jeremy Lassen thinks his press fits perfectly into a future of videogames and online bookstores. I sat down with Lassen a few weeks ago in a Montreal coffee shop during…

Books & Comics Annalee Newitz

The Mobile Phone of Tomorrow Will Be Pirated

In the future your iPhone will be a fake, and that’s a good thing. Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase took these photos to go with a fascinating story about “superfakes” – the best mobiles of the future. All the phones you see below are fakes – mostly fake iPhones and Nokias, for sale in China. Chipchase…

io9 Annalee Newitz

Laptop Depicted in 1937 Flash Gordon Comic

A Macedonian comics fan recently noticed this panel from a reprint of the 1937 Flash Gordon arc “The Outlaws of Mongo,” which depicts the henchmen of Ming the Merciless apparently communicating via laptop computer. [Science Fiction Observer via Reddit]

Books & Comics Lauren Davis

Space War and Mexican Conflict Could Be On America’s Future Agenda

The next hundred years could see the United States merge as a mature global power, only to see a rival nation threaten its space assets, and face aggression from a strong and prosperous Mexico, according to geopolitical forecaster George Friedman. Friedman is an intelligence officer with Strategic Forecasting, a private intelligence agency, as well as…

io9 Lauren Davis

My First Thoughts on Paleo-Futurism (or how I learned to stop worrying and love Disney)

This image was lost some time after publication. Me and Goofy (circa 1989)I’ve visited Walt Disney World about 20 times. Now, for an elderly woman living in Orlando, Florida, this might seem like an appropriate number. But for a 26-year-old man who’s lived his entire life in the Midwest, that number is fairly absurd. My…

Tech News Matt Novak

Intel Is Developing Brain Implants So You Can Channel Surf With Your Mind

Get Inside Lady Gaga’s Gorgeous Futuristic Bath House Of Horror

The Future of Vancouver Takes Shape

The New York Times Columnist Who’s Helping To Ruin The Future

AI Expert Says We Should Welcome An Economic Takeover By Robots

Keep from Getting Lost with Wired’s Map of the Future

Pirate Agricultures of the California Coast

The Internet’s Already Killed The Mainstream Media, And It’s Academics’ Turn Next!

Are the Novel’s Days Numbered?

Will Women Rule Over Men In The Future?

We’re Heading For A New Cold War, Argues Futurist

Karl Schroeder Talks About Futurism vs. Science Fiction

The Man Who Predicted Handheld Computers In 1980

Everything You Wanted to Know About the Future of Sex

Welcome to the Future Metropolis

Night Shade Books’ Jeremy Lassen on the Future of Book-Buying

The Mobile Phone of Tomorrow Will Be Pirated

Laptop Depicted in 1937 Flash Gordon Comic

Space War and Mexican Conflict Could Be On America’s Future Agenda

My First Thoughts on Paleo-Futurism (or how I learned to stop worrying and love Disney)

INIU Portable Power Bank Is Small in Size and Smaller in Price for Amazon’s Big Spring Sale (45W, 10,000mAh)

Humans Were Already Dog People 16,000 Years Ago, DNA Suggests

California Regulator Says Tesla’s ‘Robotaxis’ Are More Like a Limo in the Eyes of the Law

Dyson Airwrap Falls to an All-Time Low in Amazon’s Spring Sale, Lowering the Barrier for This Premium Multi-Styler

The ‘Tales from ’85’ Trailer Wants You Back in ‘Stranger Things’ Already

Forget Ray-Ban Meta, XREAL 1S AR/XR Virtual Screen Smart Glasses Drop to Record Low on Amazon

Pixel Buds Pro 2 Hit Record Low as Google Continues Its Clearance-Like Price Cuts Following Smartphone Deals

DJI Now Has a Cheaper 360 Drone Than Insta360, but the U.S. Won’t Get It

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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