Via Bruce Sterling comes yet another example of a science fictional idea brought to life – RapLeaf looks to be a nascent incarnation of the ‘whuffie’ reputation economy from Cory Doctorow’s
novel Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom.
Brits to re-enter space race?
Well, it’s high time – a special committee of MPs has recommended that the UK government reverse its ban on manned spaceflight, lest we fall so far behind everyone else that we can’t catch up. So we’ll be needing some sexy-looking space suits … either Louise
Riofrio’s design, or this oh-so-retro space leisure-wear from MIT perhaps. While we’re at it, we could probably find any number of uses for rocket engines with a variable throttle. But then again, maybe we should go the other way, and abandon subtlety in favour of an
updated version of the Orion Project – space vehicles propelled by dropping nuclear bombs beneath themselves.
Researchers Identify Fear Enzyme
Researchers working out of MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory have identified an enzyme, Cdk5, that can inhibit in rats to prevent learned fear responses. The research has practical applications in the areas of phobia and post traumatic stress treatment. This is just the latest in a series of research in the neurosciences that are leading to a near-complete mastery of how we feel and even what we think. A future is possible in which our descendants will look back at us in amazement that we ever felt an emotion that we didn’t wish to feel.
Ray Kurzweil – “Human Body 2.0”
Ray Kurzweil has long been a cheerleader for the posthuman ideal, tirelessly championing what he sees as the almost limitless potential of human beings as we become increasingly merged with our technologies. Whether you believe he’s a delusional crank or a visionary prophet, there’s no denying that he talks
a good game – his latest essay for the Lifeboat Foundation examines the plausibility of transcending our biological limitations through technology, and it’s inspirational stuff.
Yet more free fiction
Freshly arrived in the tubes of the intarwebs this week: Subterranean Online has just added a Mike Resnick story and a rare Charles Stross reprint to their latest edition (bringing the issue’s story count to eight), and Afterburn SF has seven new pieces of work online, including a story whose title alone is a work of genius:
Ben Burgis’s “Three Perspectives on the Role of the Anarchists in the Zombie Apocalypse“.