Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Futurism.

Private Weather Satellites Hold Promise, But Perils Too
Any day now President Donald Trump will likely sign a bill that would expand a pilot program to test the promises of for-profit weather data collection. While the program may pave the way for beneficial partnerships, we should be careful not to embrace commercialization too quickly for critical services like weather and climate monitoring.
By Brandon T. Bisceglia9 years ago in Futurism
Starship Troopers Requires More than One Viewing to Get a True Understanding
My first viewing of Starship Troopers definitely had me confused and led me in search of this deceptively dystopian movie. Throwing a bunch of stuff in your face like Denise Richards at her hottest and giant bugs ripping humans to pieces almost entirely overshadow the subversive subtext filmmaker Paul Verhoeven was dropping. It was almost like he was seeking an initial misunderstanding before reveling his true intentions. Maybe not so spectacular for the studio’s bottom line but just the recipe for great science fiction movies.
By Rich Monetti9 years ago in Futurism
Quantum Stills of a Thin-Spun Life - Part 2
Journeyman Engineer Ned Shinichi stood with both hands poised over the instrument panel. It wasn’t hesitation, he told himself, it wasn’t apprehension or fear or anything negative. No. It was awe, pure and simple.
By Theresa McGarry9 years ago in Futurism
The Treks in Sci-Fi Podcast
The Treks in Sci-Fi podcast. Rico The Treks in Sci-fi Podcast has been podcasting from the home of Rico Doste since 2005. Mr. Doste has been a long time sci-fi fan; the Star Trek franchise being his favorite. His podcast which stated out as a review of classic Star Trek episodes, the movies, the spin off series (ie:DS9) and collectables. However over time Rico decided encompass more discussions of other fandom in his weekly podcast which goes up on the feed every Sunday.
By Edward German9 years ago in Futurism
Outrun Stories #20
I know that I’ve always chosen to walk a different path, alone and along the lines that suited me best, following the rules that I knew to be right, the code. I wasn’t born to be a sheep, but I certainly wasn’t born to be a shepherd either.
By Outrun Stories9 years ago in Futurism
Brutalist Stories #20
I have a dream where I’m breathing water, and I’m only ever breathing in. I’m not under water, there’s a mask attached to my face that supplies the water. I breathe in, deep and deeper still, the water flows, down into my lungs and I don’t choke and I don’t breathe out. I just stop. It holds and holds and then it’s gone, then I breathe in again. Only ever in. Only ever water.
By Brutalist Stories9 years ago in Futurism
What's On Your Mind? Your Computer Will Soon Be Able to Tell You
One of the greatest magicians in history, Harry Houdini, was well known for his death-defying stunts and mind-blowing escapes from sealed chambers. One of his most astounding tricks was reading a person’s mind. Houdini himself took great pains to inform audiences that all his feats were illusion. He would state plainly to the people in the audience that reading minds was impossible. Houdini was even on a committee organized by Scientific American that offered a substantial reward for anyone proving, conclusively, that they had psychic power. No one ever collected. Mind-reading, or telepathy, has long been solely within the purview of science fiction and fantasy. Science and technology, however, seems poised to turn telepathy into scientific fact. Work is under way at universities around the world where researchers have been able to use advanced sensors to read individual words, images, and thoughts in a subject’s brain. The technology is, by no means, perfected, but it has been postulated by some scientists at IBM that, within the next five years, we will be able to communicate with computers using our minds.
By Karyn Zen9 years ago in Futurism
Rewatching... Star Trek: Operation -- Annihilate!
Thursday 13 April 1967 Here in 1967...actually let me recap. For those of you who've just joined (hello!), my 'gimmick' is that I'm trapped 50 years in the past, writing about all the tv I'm watching, occasionally browsing through contemporary newspapers and magazines, seeing the odd film, and looking at how it all fits together. A lot of it I've actually seen before, but some I'm genuinely watching for the first time. Sometimes (as in tonight's episode) I'm not even sure if I've seen it before or not. "Rewatching" is not always strictly true but it's a good umbrella title anyway. I'm not always accurate regarding plot minutiae, nor do I strive to be. I'm just telling it as I see it. When I feel like it I'll be able to jump forward 50 years so I can make observations about 'modern' things, or reviewing 21st century television. Don't question this, don't look for logic, just go with it.
By Nick Brown9 years ago in Futurism
Comes A Horseman
On a night as black as pitch comes the Horseman. It is said that all through-out history man has been tormented by the constant struggle between good and evil. Where good intentions are swept away by selfish desires. These selfish desires are now embedded in the conscious thoughts of man coursed by the temptations that the Horseman offers.
By Dr. Williams9 years ago in Futurism
When Artificial Intelligence = Not Enough Intelligence
It’s a staple of science fiction: the devices made by humans run afoul of their creators by learning how humans think. From the renegade HAL9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey to the replicants in the sci-fi classic Blade Runner to the robot in the 2014 hit Ex Machina, and others besides — all would eventually achieve the same cunning and brutality as the human beings who created them.
By Michael Eric Ross9 years ago in Futurism
LOSTBOY: A Dark Dystopian Cyberpunk Short
A frantic woman, decked out in leather, spikes, and a mohawk, races through desert mist, dodging jagged pillars of cybernetic waste. On her trail is Lostboy, a cyborg hunter who's more metal than man, and has a singular objective: catching his prey.
By Mickey Rivera9 years ago in Futurism
The Lathe of Heaven Proves Idealists Can Be the Most Dangerous Among Us
I read Poland by James Michener a number of years ago and came to a startling conclusion after reading the chapters on the Nazi Occupation during World War II. I certainly know of the Holocaust and that Hitler wasn’t particularly fond of Poles in general. But I was not aware that his long term goal was to not only eradicate every single Polish person from that country but from the face of the earth. Wow. The question that then arose is how do you get an entire occupying force – especially professional soldiers and officers - to carry out such a definitive and horrific action? Well, if they think they are making the world a better place, it’s easy, and that’s what Nazi indoctrination made them think. In this, I determined that idealists can be the most dangerous among us, and that was what came to me as I watched the 1980 PBS adaptation of Ursula Le Guin’s, The Lathe of Heaven.
By Rich Monetti9 years ago in Futurism