Hey, the new US National Space policy is out! Oh, you hadn’t heard? Well, that’s no surprise, because the incumbent administration didn’t make much of a song and dance over it, choosing instead to slip it out quietly last Friday (October 6th). Analysis seems to suggest it is a fairly hawkish piece of work, which is unsurprising. The telling parts are the ones that lay out the classic “don’t tread on me” attitude – for example: “Proposed arms control agreements or restrictions must not impair the rights of the United States to conduce research, development, testing and operations or other activities in space for U.S. national interests.” Plenty of scope for ‘creative interpretation’ in there.
FORGOTTEN DRAGONS by David McGillveray
David McGillveray – whose story “His Whore The Vector” appeared on Futurismic last year – is back with an action-packed tale of the secretive front lines of Sino-American rivalry.
Forgotten Dragons
by David McGillveray
Chongqing Municipality, People’s Republic of China, Spring 2026
The night air was wet with mist, the ground cold beneath their bellies.
“What the hell are we doing out here, man?” grumbled Cope. He spoke Mandarin out of custom, even though they were alone. “I thought the plan was to hit the fuel convoy and get out fast like last time.”
Janssen shook his head and returned the night-vision binos to his eyes. “Won’t work.” Continue reading FORGOTTEN DRAGONS by David McGillveray
That’s OK, I Have My Own Controller
There’s been a fair few ‘mind-controlled computer’ stories in the last year or so. This latest one is unique in that it features the first teenaged test subject; the young epileptic has a hardwired grid of electrodes in his brain that gather data in realtime as his brain functions, in the hope of finding the area where his seizures were triggered from. Somewhat of bored for waiting for an opportune seizure for them to measure, they reprogrammed a computer to run simple Space Invaders-style computer games and got the kid to play them using just his thoughts for triggering the controls. Odds on, he’ll soon be clamouring for an upgrade to full World of Warcraft access…
Hey, I Can See Your Panels From Here…
Quick photo-break: Ed Morana is an amateur astronomer, and one of his specialisms is trying to capture images of the International Space Station when it transits the moon as seen from Earth. So why not go take a look at his latest effort, the first since the new ISS solar panels were deployed?
Sustainable Housing Pods
So, you liked the look of those self-contained penthouse apartment-pods, but there’s a shortage of roofspace in your area, or maybe you’d prefer to live in wide-open spaces? If so (or you just happen to need a semi-permanent structure made from sustainable materials), the reusable KITAHAUS pod could be just the ticket. If the spot you place it on becomes a little more permanent, you can even wire it into grid mains electric and plumbing. I wonder if this is really a major advance, or just ‘pre-fabs for the new millenium’?