Essays

The combination of human creativity and the efficient functionality of AI will bring radical changes across the globe.

As an author, I’ve found grounding my science fiction in reality produces a more layered, immersive tale. Science fiction stories often occur in space. So, sci-fi readers and authors may appreciate this introduction to a relevant real-world organization, the United States Space Force, or USSF. The US Space Force Is No Joke Perhaps the first …

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The term “metaverse” was first coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash. He used it to refer to an immersive, virtual reality world in which people are embodied as their avatars.

While we still don’t have the flying cars, time machines, and holographic movies that sci-fi has long offered us, though other predictions have come to life, such as the Star Trek communicators that became Motorola flip phones. Today, virtual fiction is having its moment in the spotlight as the tech world leans into the metaverse.

The real history of stage magic in the 19th century was as hectic and violent as director Christopher Nolan portrays in The Prestige.

There is a troubling aspect to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In the first edition, the Oompa-Loompas are black pygmies who Wonka imports from “the deepest and darkest part of the African jungle” and enslaves in his factory.

It is hard to judge the effect that last year’s unequivocal confirmation of real UFO footage— captured by real navy pilots—has had on the common man or woman. But this new bill surely proves that the topic of UFOs has moved beyond the eye-rolling phase of the alien debate. Or does it?

The large and inhospitable sand dunes of the desert planet Arrakis are, of course, very prominent in both the books and film. But just how high would sand dunes be on a realistic version of this world?

The occult has made a strong comeback with gen Z.

You, too, can smell like a witch. Magic and scent were linked in ancient Greece and Rome, and today, you can buy scents that can make you smell like Hermione, Hecate, and other famous witches of literature and history.

Seven visions for the metaverse we’ve been hearing about.

Three scientists set out to determine if it were possible for humans to survive on a planet like Dune. They say yes — but not where you’d expect from reading the book.

What would lead someone to claim that a fantasy role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons was a recruiting tool for satan?

The cultural relevance of urban fantasy can be traced back to the time period of its birth — the early nineteenth century — where many were struggling to respond to industrial change and a new economic system.

These holograms, created with mirrors and jets of air, could be the first steps towards a Star Trek-style holodeck.

The Dark Souls videogame shares many elements with the literature of British artists in the Romantic era such as Lord Byron and others from the early 1800s.

Rehearsing the end of the world through film may have desensitized us, lulling us into a false sense of security that all will end well — and that we are immortal.

Robert Stahl has analyzed some favorite horror films to present this list for your consideration.

One of the most interesting tools for thinking about future defense technology isn’t big data forecasting and the use of synthetic training environments, but narrative and imagination. And we get this from science fiction.

New knowledge of quantum fractals could provide the foundations for scientists to experimentally test the theory of quantum consciousness.

To take on some of the biggest challenges of the next generation of astronomy, astronomers are turning to AI)to build new tools to rapidly search for the next big breakthroughs.

Denis Villeneuve’s adaption of Dune scheduled to be released this fall in theaters and on HBO Max, but the author’s life is a tale in and of itself.

Two Venus missions will be launched some time between 2028 and 2030, instead of missions to the moons of Jupiter and Neptune. What are we missing out on as a result?

Transhumanists predict that science will enable us to free our minds from bodily constraints. But these ideas actually date back to the 18th century.

If and when they eradicate humans, they would be better suited to space travel. In orbit, octopuses could maneuver much more easily and fit in smaller spaces.

When I arrived in Austria I had to complete a German language course before I could attend university, but I had trouble focusing in the online learning platform. Immersive virtual reality solved the problem.

A quiet revolution is taking place in the global space industry and its full impact on global space industry should be measured over the next decade.

Last Friday, billionaire inventor Tony Stark — I mean, Elon Musk — showed off progress on his latest project, the Neuralink.

Tesla was a real-life Prometheus: the mythical Greek titan who raided heaven to bring fire to mankind, yet in punishment was chained to a rock where each day an eagle ate his liver.