Science Fiction and Science Fantasy, The difference.

Right, so this might be a boring topic for some, but I think it's an interesting distinction, so I'm going to talk about it anyway. People who don't read sci-fi lump whole sections of literature under that one title (often including heroic fantasy, if you can believe that), like some sort of horrible mutant chimera. In reality there are some very clear distinctions in the genre.

Science Fiction as a genre includes such gems as the works of Issac Asimov, or the new Joss Whedon show Doll House. So what categorizes these as science fiction? It's actually fairly simple: The major element in any Science Fiction story is the science. What a science fiction writer does when developing a story is to choose a particular type of technology and then extrapolate it into the future to see how people will react to it. Because the science is the major protagonist in the story, it has to be very well thought out and communicated, there is always an in depth explanation on how and why this technology works.

Science Fantasy (also sometimes called a 'space opera') on the other hand doesn't rely on science for the story's direction. This sub-genre includes epic pieces of story telling like Star Wars (personally I'm referring to IV, V and VI when I say this) and Joss Whedon's amasing FireFly. While these stories might be set in the far future, and so require space-ships and lasers and the like, these things are more incidental to the story that the writer is trying to tell and so we don't get a lot (or any) explanation of how the science works.

To simplify the difference: Science Fiction is a story about people's reactions to piece or type of technology while Science Fantasy is a story that just happens to be set in a place or time with futuristic gadgets. Both genre's are very cool and lots of fun to read (or watch), but for completely different reasons.

In the News:

Robots To Clear the Baltic Seafloor of WW-II Mines - Our metal friends helping out again

Can He Make The Dancing Hexapod Robot Happy - Another cool article on the development of AI

Is Hyperlongevity Immoral? - an interesting exploration of the ethical ramifications of our drive to immortality

Blind people use both visual and auditory cortices to hear - interesting goings on in our brains.

Scientists solve ageing puzzle - "who wants, to live, forever?"

US military to make jet fuel from algae - the jarheads are going green, it seems.

New results confirm standard neutrino theory - some results to back up quantum theory.

Google demonstrates phone that translates text - a step closer to a universal translator

Switzerland peruses violent game ban - big brother steps in against electronic mayhem... it'll sure be boring if they pull it off

Lego Robot Solves Any Rubik's Cube in 12 Seconds - this thing is COOL! check out the vids

Robot Soccer Getting Better - news from the Robot World Cup

Minority Report Interface Is Real, Hitting Mainstream Soon - awesome gadget... I want one!!!

Nanodiamonds Produce 'Game Changing Event' for MRI Imaging Sensitivity - Nano technology doing cool stuff.

Oil droplets can navigate complex maze - scientists have taught oil droplets.... teaching inanimate objects? WTF?!

So there we are... another post down. If you enjoyed it, leave a comment, follow and tell your friends. Or tell me... I'd dig to know if anyone actually reads these things. ^^

-Odd

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law       - Asimov's 3 Laws of Robotics.

Evolutionary Politics

The State of the Nation address that our bold leader Zuma gave last week was a joke. I haven't heard a single person who was happy with it. A reiteration of ANC dogma was NOT what the thinking people of South Africa were looking for in this troubled time. I for one was hoping for something a little more concrete, not load of promises about how our government will create jobs, fix the economy and bring us all breakfast in bed, I wanted to know exactly how they planned to pull it off.

In South Africa we are all afflicted with the curse of Revolutionary Politics... as I see it, this means that the people who fought for freedom, having achieved it, have no idea what to do with it. Instead of actually working for the betterment of their country, government officials seem content to make empty promises and fill their not-so-empty pockets. This won't change until the electorate gets fed up enough to stop voting as if we were still under apartheid... until they realise that, while the ANC has done great things in the past, they don't have the capability or the motivation to lift South Africa to a more prosperous future.

It's not all the ANC's fault though, the opposition hasn't exactly covered itself in glory either. Where are the alternative plans? Where is the mass educational drive that will teach the disadvantaged masses about the real power of the vote and how democracy is supposed to work?

Still.... I suppose it's better to have a government that does nothing, rather than one that actively goes out of it's way to screw things up. As long as they keep that kid Julius muzzled, I'll be content (if not happy).

In the News:

How long till human level AI - a nice article about a survey of industry leaders, asking when they think we'll take the big step

Six-legged Robot Teaches Itself to Walk - a neat new robot ^^

Appeals Court Rules On Internet Obscenity Standard - The californian courts have set a worrying precedient with this one.

Where's Your Flying Car (and Your Jetpack)? - apparently... they're nearly here... Cool!

Fall Into A Black Hole At the Speed Of Light With New Simulator - a couple scienctists have developed a graphic simulation of what happens at the event horizon of a black hole. Nice.

Mixing Man and Machine - the world's first cyborg (now ex-cyborg) talks about artificially enchancing the human race.

Digital/Real World cross over - A huge step in Augmented reality, you HAVE TO watch this! it's a very different approach, and I'm seriously considering trying to build a similar rig. This guy is my new hero.

Brain Surgery Linked To Sensation of Spirituality - quite troubling if you're the religous sort (or maybe not... depends on how much of a control freak you think God is, i guess).

Scrapheap Transhumanism - this dude is seriously whacked... I, for one, would not have the balls to do this.

In an unrelated matter, I had an Epicly Awesome weekend... I officially have the coolest girlfriend in the world... so sorry for the rest of you guys ^^. Hope you enjoyed the post. As always: If you've got a comment post it, and if you enjoyed it... click the link on the right to follow... and tell your friends ^^

-Odd

"What do you mean I could be the president, of the United States of America? Tell me something, it's still WE, THE PEOPLE right?" -Megadeth, Peace Sells.

Hello, my name is Odd and I'm a bibliophile

I recently bought the 25th anniversary edition of David Gemmel's masterpiece Legend (and, being the raging geek that I am, bought one for my gorgeous girlfriend so that she has to read it too ^^), and it got my thinking on my reading habits.

I'm not a huge fan of non-fiction (besides textbooks, i don't touch it) or even real world fiction, my textual consumption consists entirely of Heroic Fantasy and Science Fiction... and some people have a problem with that. It would never have crossed my mind that some would find my reading habits frivolous and wasteful, but I spend a fair amount of time reading in coffee shops and I'm often randomly accosted (usually by business types) asking why I'm wasting me time reading whichever novel I happen to be engrossed in.

Usually I just send them politely on their way... they're much to busy and self important to actually listen to any sort of rational (which begs the question, how do they have time to give me greif?), but occationally I do put down the book, set aside the caffinated ambrosia and try educate the unwashed masses.

I think that Heroic Fantasy and even more so Science Fiction are the most important genres that the combined genius of humanity produces. Heroic Fantasy (the good ones at least) open and expand the mind to a degree that non-fiction and real world fiction just can't match. It introduces us to ideas, worlds and situations that (while not physically possible in this reality) mirror, exemplify and extrapolate everything in the world around us.

Science Fiction is an even greater necessity for the modern world. Every piece of technology, scientific theory and every gadget that has integrated so seamlessly into our lives were (at very least) influenced by the work of a SciFi writer. They are the true visionaries of our age, and we can only benefit from tapping into their genius.

So, next time you're in a book store... be expansionist in your thinking: visit the Fantasy/Sci-Fi section... and if you happen to see me in a coffee shop, brain deep in a novel bigger and more complicated than a V2 rocket manual, have a thought before wrenching me back to reality to tell me I'm wasting my time.

In the News:

Europe's LHC To Run At Half-Energy Through 2011 - The LHC is still a long way from full operation.

Dune Remake Could Mean 3D Sandworms - Hope they do a good job on this one, it's one of the greatest Sci-Fi series ever written.

Patient presumed vegetative communicates via brain scan: study - I can think of nothing scarier than being stuck in my own head with no way to communicate... thankfully, science is making progress.

Stanford's robotic Audi to brave Pikes Peak without a driver (w/ Video) - Self driving cars are getting closer and closer

Carbon Based Chips May One Day Replace Silicon Transistors - A new technology that could keep Moore's Law going.

Hello Robotnaut: Nasa, GM introduce latest humanoid robot - NASA joining the race with this cool new robot.

Artificial intelligence: Can AI crack the conundrum of consciousness? - a great article on AI, how it's evolving and how it can tell us about ourselves.

Virus-Detecting "Lab On a Chip" Developed At BYU - great medical breakthroughs with nano-tech

Google Shooting For Smartphone Universal Translator - totally SciFi technology from my favorite evil corporation.

New Material Transforms Car Bodies Into Batteries - a new meta-material that could change the automotive industry and go a long way to making all our lives the little bit greener.

And there you have it, another week of looking into the excuse I call a mind. ^^ hope you enjoyed it.

-Odd

“Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil. Never back away from an enemy. Either fight or surrender. It is not enough to say I will not be evil. Evil must be fought wherever it is found.” - The Iron Code of Druss

Modern Robotics

Of all things sci-fi and techie, robots are probably the most easily explained and recognisable phenomenon. They’ve featured in numerous sci-fi books and movies, mostly as grossly overpowered machines of human extinction, but also occasionally as sensitive, thinking, feeling companions to mankind. Today, I will give you a few brief insights into how modern science is trying to realise the promises of those epic sci-fi stories.

The definition of a robot (in this case taken from Wikipedia) is an automatically guided machine, able to do tasks on its own. Another common characteristic is that by its appearance or movements, a robot often conveys a sense that it has intent or agency of its own. “Automatically guided” is an important distinction, as a lot of machines that people consider to be robots are actually not.

The US military has a number of these types of things, but currently doesn’t have any real robots. That will soon change, with DARPA giving out a $32 million grant to the company responsible for the very (very, very) cool Big Dog robot. This handy (fully automatic) machine is going to be used as a robotic pack mule, lugging around supplies for a troop of soldiers travelling through rough terrain. Big Dog has some really advanced movement systems, so much so that it can come across quite creepy to some people (I think it’s WAY too cool to be considered creepy, but maybe that’s just me ^^).

Thankfully, the military are not the only ones exploring Robotics in its true form, the civilian sector might actually be well ahead. South Korea in particular is making a big push to be the world leader in robotics, having made the very ambitious promise to have a robot in every home by 2020. They could even make the deadline, with awesome tech like Honda’s ASIMO robot and this maid robot. These civilian robots are still a far cry from C3-P0, only able operate in a very limited set of environments and actions.

So the robots are coming! And with showcases like the Robotic Soccer World Cup, and constant advances in computers allowing us to evolve the software to run the robots, it’s only a matter of time.

Lots of news this week:

Twitter Developing Technology To Thwart Censorship – Twitter taking up the challenge of opposing despotic countries. Brave.

Scientists Produce Unprecedented 1 Megajoule Laser Shot, Step Towards Fusion Ignition

Levitating magnet may yield new approach to clean energy – The biggest “laser beam” built yet, Dr. Evil would approve.

Apple Ipad – various views from industry commentators.

China Is Winning Global Race To Make Clean Energy - Who would have thought?

The BCI X PRIZE: This Time It’s Inner Space - A new X-Prize being setup to advance the electronic/brain interface. Sweet.

New adhesive device could let humans walk on walls - I want to be spiderman!

Scientists Discover New Species of Tyrannosaur - Pretty cool ^^

India Objects To Google Book Settlement - Google having more problems with it’s Books program

Super Strong Metal Foam Discovered - New meta-materials are always cool

Another week, another post. Hope you found it interesting. Peace.

-Odd

“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”