Linketies: Science Friday
I think one of the best quotes I've heard recently was from Matt Novak, who wrote that thanks to the Jetsons, there's a cultural sense of betrayal that the future never really arrived. I don't think you can blame it all on the Jetsons, though. Science fiction promised people flying cars and weekend jaunts to the moon, but the reality is Twitter and Angry Birds.
Of course, "the future" is more of a process than a destination and perceptions aside, science fiction writers have done a pretty decent job over the years. I remember reading Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 series as a kid and thinking how cool it would be to read the news on a tablet computer instead of a bulky newspaper. And let's not forget that a lot of today's science falls into the realm of things that the sci-fi writers never imagined.
You can read more of Matt Novak at the Paleofuture blog on Smithsonian.com.
Of course, "the future" is more of a process than a destination and perceptions aside, science fiction writers have done a pretty decent job over the years. I remember reading Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 series as a kid and thinking how cool it would be to read the news on a tablet computer instead of a bulky newspaper. And let's not forget that a lot of today's science falls into the realm of things that the sci-fi writers never imagined.
You can read more of Matt Novak at the Paleofuture blog on Smithsonian.com.
We might not have flying cars yet, but work is being done on the software that would be needed to make them work.
I've written before about the new Cambridge Center for Existential risk which has the aim of figuring out ways to protect humanity from futuristic threats such as "grey goo" nanotechnology or robot uprisings. We can all sleep better at night knowing that one of the finest minds on the planet is now working on these problems: Stephen Hawking.
A prehistoric "tyrannosaurus rex of the sea" has been discovered in Nevada.
Field biology is starting to make some interesting contributions to the fight against infectious diseases. Scientists are experimenting with genetically modified mosquitoes in an effort to combat diseases spread by the little bloodsuckers. And researchers have found that the endangered giant panda carries a powerful antibiotic in its bloodstream that could lead to breakthroughs in the fight against drug-resistance "superbugs".
Perhaps it will turn out that the hyper-emotional and intensely ideological debate over gun control has a straightforward technological solution: "smart guns" that don't function when they're in the wrong hands.
In another example of high-tech crime prevention tools, experimental software being rolled out in Baltimore and Philadelphia attempts to predict which prison parolees are likely to commit murder so law enforcement can keep a closer eye on these people.
It's not just Superstorm Sandy. From snow in Israel and Syria to intense heat in Australia that has forced the country's meteorological bureau to add new colors to weather maps, extreme weather is becoming the new norm in the wake of climate change.
Astronomers have now calculated there is a less than one in a million change of the asteroid Apophis slamming into the earth during its close flyby in 2036.