Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Futurism.
Evolution of the Big Brain
Our brains are truly the one thing that has separated us from everything else that has lived on this planet, and it was happenstance. It evolved serendipitously, as a side effect of our environmental lifestyle, and the tale is a glorious tribute to the beauty of evolution. Let me be clear. We did not need a big brain to survive. Nothing else has one, and all life here progresses fine without one. Its usefulness allowed us to conquer every environment. So what did we do that was so right?
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Futurism
Kuri's Origin Story: Judy's Secret
#KuriStory #HeyKuri Spring had come once again at the Larrabee house and just like every year, it brought with it the annual spring cleaning. Emily Larrabee spent the morning doing the laundry and dishes before her young daughter Harper awoke and came stomping down the stairs.
By Rachel Bee8 years ago in Futurism
The Star Wars Prequels
The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith. What comes into your mind when you hear those titles? The endless memes? Over reliance on CGI? Mostly wooden dialogue? Of course these things come to mind, but I believe there’s a brilliance in these films. Here’s just a few examples of well-executed aspects of these three films that I believe many fans enjoy, as well as my own interpretation of the overarching story.
By Isaac Johnson8 years ago in Futurism
Neanderthal and the Denisovans
The southern Iberian Peninsula near Gibralter was the last outpost of Neanderthal. They languished there until as late as 24kbp (thousand years before present). This area offered several survival elements They had warmth, seafood, and cliffs. With so much game gone at this point, they probably relied on food provided by the sea and cliffs. The cliffs also offered security from intruders. Climate had undergone drastic changes. A volcanic eruption 40kbp began a series of extremely cold seasons. This caused a loss of game animals and the calving of icebergs that also lowered temperatures. This is seen as the match that broke the camel's back for our cousins. Some researchers believe that Neanderthals couldn't make warm enough clothing, but that seems ridiculous. These were a people long used to living in colder temperatures. After all, aren't they built for the cold with their shortened arms, legs, and stocky bodies, just like Arctic people today?
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Futurism
Two Fan-Favourite 'Doctor Who' Characters Set to Collide in Brand New Big Finish Stories
Doctor Who; one of the most loved shows around the world since the day it started back in 1963 and fans couldn't get enough of it. However, when the show was cancelled in 1989, fans were left stumped on what to watch next until the show was revived back in 2005 by former showrunner, Russell T Davies.
By Lewis Jefferies8 years ago in Futurism
Why We Walk on Two Legs
Perhaps the greatest frustration in evolutionary biology is bipedalism. Why walk on two legs if running on all fours is faster? Well, for the last hundred years or so, we were taught we stood up to see over the tall grass of the savannah, much like meerkats. This freed our hands to carry food, make tools, and become the mighty hunter. That theory went out the window when the entire Savannah Hypothesis bit the dust. Ardipithecus and Australopithecines are now viewed as semi-woodland dwellers. Here we developed two-leggedness because we stood on branches, using the hands to steady us, employing a light touch. They have even determined how strong the touch would be as we steadied ourselves, swaying branches and what the force of a breeze would be. Some people have got too much time on their hands!
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Futurism
By Standing a War
8, January 2057 Back in for the spring semester! I wonder what this class is going to be like. I assume this journal stuff is going to be a part of it since she wants us to “get in the habit of free writing.” She won’t look into them though, she just wants us to write in them every week or so in class. Oh well, I guess that’s what I can expect taking Creative Writing. Sure as hell beats Reading Drama though. I hate reading plays, especially that Shakespeare crap. I say keep it in the past. I like writing though. Anyway, I’m so glad it’s going to be spring soon, because winter is pulling no punches. They’re still talking about another storm coming in from Wisconsin. I hate this Michigan weather. Never got any of this down in Arizona. But like I said, spring is coming.
By Sean Stewart8 years ago in Futurism
Most Inaccurate Science Fiction Movie Sounds
The one thing separating science fiction from all other genres is the way it has monopolized the utilization of unique and otherworldly sounds to benefit any particular setting, theme, character, or premise in a movie. This is why sci-fi is simultaneously hated and loved, for it draws upon the inner depths of everyone's imaginations, yet still tends to drive an axe through the laws of both physics and relativity. How accurate are modern sci-fi sounds? Well, given that there's literally no sound in space, I'd say slim to none in terms of having any realistic qualities. You'd think, for a place most often deemed a vacuum, that it would be obnoxiously loud up there, but that's not the case, and neither are the following inaccurate science fiction movie sounds.
By Salvador Lorenz8 years ago in Futurism
Out of Africa
Today's view of human evolution is rapidly shifting from the now-defunct Savannah Hypothesis to the more believable coastal living scenario. No longer is the idea that we developed our brains while hunting on the savannah held true. Some have opted for a semi-woodland environment, but this, too, is leading us to coastal living as the preeminent ecosystem where we evolved from a small-brained biped into a large-brained one. Picture, if you will, a group of LCAs (Last Common Ancestor) living on the east coast of Africa, blocked to the west by the Ethiopian Escarpment, and to the east by the Red Sea. There is plenty of freshwater. We know this because there is a continuum of freshwater springs in this area today, produced by the movement in the East African Rift System. Seafood was plentiful. Even the old and the very young had all they could eat. There was volcanism and rift movement and occasionally openings in the rift would come about and some would leave this paradise for the interior. They may have gotten lost out in this different world and been unable to make their way back. Or, the pathway they took out of their normal environment may have been closed off by rift activity. Unless you think bipedal forms of hominids sprung up spontaneously all over Africa, this is the only interpretation. The likelihood of that is remote when you consider the extremely different environments in which this adaptation would have had to occur.
By Monica Bennett8 years ago in Futurism
