Because even I have a heart, let the record show that Discover lists The Top 5 “Crazy” Michael Crichton Ideas That Actually Came True.
- Talking gorillas (Congo)
- Self-replicating robots (Prey)
- Superbugs from space (The Andromeda Strain). OK, this sounds like a stretch, but: “…[W]e’ve also discovered that some [microorganism] strains become more virulent when sent into space. (Though fear not: They become far less deadly once they’ve made the journey home.)”
- Brain implants (The Terminal Man)
- Cloning dead (or even extinct) animals (that novel about dinos, the name of which escapes me): Maybe overstating a bit, but: “[S]cientists have successfully cloned mice that have been dead and frozen for 16 years.”
Not all these ideas are exactly original to Crichton. Still, take that, me.
[Tribute to the author by DML East Branch]