Tag: sciencefiction

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2011
Reamde, by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow) For the first time in many years, Stephenson wrote a technothriller that was science fiction done James Bond style - that is, set in the present day, but populated with a fantastical number of superspies and high tech gadgets. Here's what we said about it : Maureen McHugh's latest short story collection, After the Apocalypse, is a dark look at what the next century might hold for ordinary people. Embassytown, by China Miville (Del Rey) In his first purely science fiction novel, Miville has created a fascinating thought experiment about what kind of culture would arise among intelligent creatures who lack symbolic thought. Here's what we said about it : Unlike every other species with language, the Areikei don't distinguish between language and reality. (more)

The story of artificial intelligence
In his lectures and books, Turing put forward his theory of what could be defined as an 'intelligent computer' - now commonly known as the 'Turing test' which posited that, if a machine could communicate convincingly enough to fool a casual observer (over a teletype machine in the mid-20th century, and via, say, Skype today), then it could be considered artificially intelligent. Alan Turing With computer science still in its infancy, Turing recognised that the possibility of a machine capable of conversation was still decades away. Lacking a sufficiently powerful computer, Turing wrote the program by hand. This apparently trivial pursuit actually had a useful purpose: by 'teaching' a computer to play a simple strategy game like chequers, he hoped to create a program which could be used to solve other, more complex problems. (more)

Let's hand over the analogue TV airways to machines (Wired UK)
This is a guest post by Luke D'Arcy, Vice President of Marketing at mobile wireless data service provider Neul The ideas surrounding machines "taking over" has long been a popular topic both for writers and scientists. Over the last few years society has become increasingly used to seeing machines talking to other machines. In the home machines will monitor and communicate, ensuring your heating is set to the right temperature and your supermarket delivery service is notified when you run out of milk. A world of machines communicating with each other will see devices capable of productivity and customer service unachievable by humans as machines keep a constant watch, refuelling, restocking and repairing as needed. (more)

Robots in London: New exhibition explores world of robotics
Robotville will communicate the current state of play where everything is at when it comes to robot structures, robot abilities and robot appearances, claims Nick Hawkes, a lecturer in artificial intelligence and programming at the University of Birmingham. Some of Hawkess recent work will be on show at the exhibition he helped build Dora, a robot able to map an area and then, if in a home, for instance, locate and fetch familiar items. While Hawkes predicts that, within certain parameters, robots will become more and more useful, he concedes that cyborg bounty hunters are unlikely. I can imagine robots doing menial, automated tasks in prisons, hospitals, hotels places where there are a consistent set of requests, he says. (more)

Science council moves to safeguard South Africa's robotics prowess
We suggest that you upgrade to the latest version of any of the following browsers: close notification Since Czech playwright Karel Capek popularised and, indeed, named the concept of the robot in his 1920 science-fiction play, RUR (Rossums Universal Robots) the word is derived from the Czech word robota, which means labour it has exerted a fascination on both the popular and the scientific, and on engineering and technological minds. This was Unimate, developed by the Unimation (Universal Automation) company in the US, which was specifically founded to manufacture robots for industry. (Unimation was later bought by Westinghouse and subsequently sold to the Franco-Swiss Stubli group, which incorporated it into its robotics division; the name Unimation is no longer used. Some have limited learning ability, explains Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) mining robotics project manager Liam Candy . (more)

A tour of the lab where IBM makes its brain chips (video)
A tour of the lab where IBM makes its brain chips(video) San Jose, Calif. At the IBM Almaden Research Center , a team of researchers is creating the artificial brains of the future. We took a tour of this lab from Dharmendra Modha (pictured), principle investigator on the brain chip project. IBM and its partners have already built a brain-like chip prototype , and Modha and his colleagues showed us how it works. IBM calls the larger project Synapse (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics, or SyNAPSE). (more)

Science fiction brings up religious conflicts
tool nameIn my previous column, I briefly described how I came to be interested in the film and literary genre of science fiction from the perspective of a religious practitioner, in my case, Roman Catholic Christianity, and how it could be a useful way of exploring issues such as the increasingly pervasive presence of technology in our world. Defining the human being is a way of trying to understand what human beings are as a foundation for understanding the purpose of human beings in the universe. More often in science fiction the nonhuman characters with human appearance are machines such as the cyborgs in the Terminator franchise, the cylons in the rebooted Battlestar Galactica and its spin-off, Caprica, or the replicants in the classic, Blade Runner, based on Philip Dicks novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Some science fiction works explore the human motivations behind the creation of such humanoid machines. (more)

Clip from "200l: A Space Odyssey".
Very short clip from the movie made available by CNN as part of a February 28, 1997 story. (more)

Google Author Series: Daniel Wilson - How to Survive a Robot Uprising.
“Daniel H. Wilson discusses his book ‘How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips On Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion.’” He then takes questions from the audience. January 30, 2006. (more)

Nova scienceNOW Profile: Cynthia Breazeal.
Nova scienceNOW broadcast segment about "a daring engineer designs robots to communicate and interact the way people do." "Thinking outside the box of traditional engineering, Breazeal designs these robots with theories of child development and parent-child interactions in mind, equipping her creations with an ability to learn and giving them expressive, human-like features. And if, as Breazeal hopes, robots are to become our partners, they need to develop the same social skills as people, including emotions. NOVA scienceNOW joins Breazeal in her lab and introduces viewers to some of her seminal inventions: the famous toddler- like robotic head named Kismet; Leonardo, a million-dollar joint project with Stan Winston, legendary in Hollywood for The Terminator robots; and a touch-sensitive teddy bear called the Huggable, which may someday comfort patients and assist caregivers in hospital pediatric wards." November 21, 2006. (more)

SIAI Interview Series: Barney Pell, Powerset CEO.
Dr. Barney Pell is an SIAI Advisor and co-founder and CEO of Powerset, a San Francisco company working to build a transformative consumer search engine. In this interview, Pell talks about advanced AI, progress in the AI field, Powerset, his involvement with SIAI, his robotics work at NASA Ames, the dangers of AI, the importance of foresight, and more. May 30, 2007. (more)

Singularity Summit 2007 Keynote Speaker - Rodney Books: The Singularity, A Period Not An Event.
Whatever writes future history will look back at what we are calling the singularity not as a single event but as a period of time. The singularity period will encompass a time where a collection of technologies were invented, developed, and deployed in fits and starts, driven not by the imperative of the singularity itself, but by the normal economic and sociological pressures of human affairs. A Hollywood treatment of the singularity would have a world just like today's, plus the singularity, as a singular event. In reality, the world will be changing continuously due to rapid growth in technologies that are both related and unrelated to the singularity itself. The future will be embedded in a different world than the one we inhabit. And the AI systems we create will not have the same desires, beliefs, and goals as today-us. Tomorrow-us will be much better equipped for the changes that will take place in our world. This talk will explore how things might unfold and how we will transform ourselves along the way. September 8, 2007. (more)

Surgical Robotics: Is R2D2 in Your Future?.
"Surgical Robots are here now; they have their roots in Stanford-based research and Silicon Valley development. How do they work? What can they do? Thomas Krummel, MD, [Emile Holman Professor and chair, Department of Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine] addresses the current uses of surgical robotics, the reasons for using them and their role in future medical treatments." Questions from the audience follow the talk. March 23, 2006. (more)

Technology Review Letter from the Editor: On Science Fiction.
How [science fiction] influences the imaginations of technologists. March 2007. (more)

USC Presents...Closer To Truth: Is Science Fiction Science?
"Science Fiction enables scientific creativity to break free, unrestricted by the laws of nature as we know them, and allows contemporary issues to be explored in radically different environments than the normal trappings. By definition, Science Fiction is a genre that creates alternate scenarios and then watches them play out. Joining host Robert Kuhn is author/producer/director Michael Crichton; Physicist David Brin; and author Octavia E. Butler." May 15, 2006. (more)

Washburn Lecture Series at the Museum of Science, Boston: "2001: A Space Odyssey. Are we there yet?" Lecture one (of three) - Human/Computer Conversation: HAL and Beyond, with Justine Cassell, Ph.D..
Justine Cassell's lecture, "Human/Computer Conversation: HAL and Beyond," was the first in the three speaker lecture series: "2001: A Space Odyssey. Are we there yet?" November 6, 2001. (more)

Will Small Step for Robots Lead to Giant Leap for Robotkind?
"Just how close are we to being replaced by robots? NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien examines the efforts under way to develop robots that are just like us." Video clips of many robots and interviews with researchers, including Marvin Minsky. Oct. 29, 2010. (more)