Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Futurism.

Why ET Contact Sucks
The alien abduction narrative has been a part of popular culture for a long time, and the UFO narrative has countless allegations by experiencers of alien abduction and contact. Initiated by some intelligent Other, those meetings flow along a spectrum from kind and benevolent visitations to abusive and violent kidnappings. Two general camps arise in the abduction enigma; the benevolent spiritual meeting, generally, but not wholly, accepted as “contact,” and the cruel malevolent snatching of a person, typically known as “abduction.”
By MJ Banias9 years ago in Futurism
Hyper-Sexualized Dismemberment and the Art of Katrina Bea
I've been asked to interview a reclusive artist. An artist whose work I find to be exquisitely revolting. Work that, in my eyes, causes awkward hyper-sexualized repulsion in absolute terms. Like the protagonist, Alex, from A Clockwork Orange, we are all but programed to become ill when confronted with such confusing attractions. Kill, fuck, bleed, burst, dismember; this art is eerie and unsettling. It's clearly powerful, but it's a deeply personal intrusion to look at it. It's art that demands to be discussed; if you can bare to keep your gaze on it before averting your eyes and feeling shame.
By Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell9 years ago in Futurism
This Earth Is Hell
“And death shall have no dominion” -Dylan Thomas I’m sending out this message to anyone in the proximity of this planet in the hope that people will stay clear. I... I am all that’s left of our crew. I’ve made contact via a light beam so I am planning to make the jump to safe space and the shar’eel station as soon as our drive can be enabled. What happened…we seem… to have been…trapped…in a-a space- time vortex…our on line communication and holo-instrumentation… failed… and we have been out of contact with home-world now for six weeks… when we managed to get our instruments functional and the server-hybrid controls stable we found ourselves in the proximity of a planet very similar to our own; but as we descended our ship as struck by… metallic slugs. We… that is officers Gorn, Ludlow and I, Tenarish… lost control… of the flight systems the ship. It bucked and was buffeted by winds that span wildly in the upper then lower atmosphere. We fought to get some control but failed. Slamming into a vast desert. We would have died there. If it were not for the creatures of the planet. They are tall, far larger than us, also of the bipedal design and what appears to be in the 4th stage of evolution. As you know the most complex stage of existence; the teenagers of the universe so to speak. Most of the crash is not known to me. I had the impression of a being looking down at me, sensing danger and malignance from it, even though it stared at me with gentle eyes. I felt lies and mistrust… From here, I remember nothing until I found myself alone in grey green room. I was lying flat on a resting station. It felt warm, but the room itself was cool.
By Andrew David9 years ago in Futurism
Star Quest
Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars, let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars in other words, let's reach our true destiny. A take on Frank Sinatra's hit. But, that movie "Interstellar" points out some very real possibilities that could play out in reality sooner than we think. When Tsiolokovsky, the pioneering Russian scientist, remarked that Earth is the cradle of mankind but one cannot live in the cradle forever he understood the vital importance that man must seek out new life forms and to literally go where no man has go before. Now, as the summer winds of the worlds discontent fast approach aided by the prolific findings of Stephen Hawking about the fate of mankind we really need to put our house in order and look to the stars if we have any hope of saving the human race. And, we better do it quick. Mankind has always wondered could there actually be a better world out there? We'd have better hope so.
By Dr. Williams9 years ago in Futurism
The Dead Zoo: Triceratops
Triceratops always seemed like a friendly dinosaur to me. I’m not exactly sure why. It couldn’t have been because of Uncle Beazley. That dinosaur was before my time, and I didn’t encounter him at the National Zoo until after I was already grown up. Jurassic Park couldn’t have been it, either. I wish I could have given the sick Triceratops a hug just like Alan Grant did, but I was already ten before I dragged my family to see the epic cinematic dinosaurs. There must have been something else.
By Brian Switek9 years ago in Futurism
Technology, and the Future of Criminal Justice
A recent New York Times article highlighted a system and part of the criminal justice system that most people aren’t aware of; Risk Management Systems and their use in sentencing convicted offenders, predicting recidivism rates, and even working to the likelihood of children to become criminal offenders later in life. Tools such as these are based in the sciences of Predictive Analytics, Behavioral Analysis, Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning.
By James P.9 years ago in Futurism
Looking Back at Sense8 Season 1
With the complete second season of Sense8 about to debut on Netflix in just two days -- the first two episodes of the second season were a December 2016 special -- I thought it a good time to look back at the first season, as prelude to a review of the 2nd season in a few days.
By Paul Levinson9 years ago in Futurism
Best 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Funko Pop! Figures
Star Wars: The Force Awakens begins approximately thirty years after the destruction of the second Death Star. Luke Skywalker is the last known surviving Jedi Master but he has disappeared. Both the First Order, a successor to the fallen Galactic Empire, and the Resistance, a military force backed by the New Republic and led by Luke's twin sister, General Leia Organa aka Princess Leia (duh), scour the galaxy in an attempt to find him. New and old characters join the Force or are also lured to the Dark Side in this continuing story of the Star Wars universe. Like any geek who goes gaga for anything geeky, Funko Pop! has made your obsessive toy hoarding dreams come true with their release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens Vinyls. I'm sure the most hardcore Star Wars fans have either collected all these or these on the list to get. Don't let these slip from you, they won't last forever. Below are the must-haves to add to your Star Wars Funko Pop! collection!
By George Gott9 years ago in Futurism
Any Time You Like
I understand what ‘deafening silence’ means now. He had been driving for several hours, and he shifted his weight from one cheek to the other to alleviate the tightness and numbness in his legs.
By Bryant Holmes9 years ago in Futurism
Quantum Stills of a Thin-Spun Life - Part 4
For uncounted minutes Parke looked down at the Captain’s chair from which he personally accessed the Core. And he knew he was postponing the private interface for myriad reasons, but primarily because he wouldn’t be able to unknow once he knew. Was that one of the reasons that previous captains had stopped interfacing? To remain unknowing? To be ignorant purposely? Because to know would mean taking action, rather than going on as they had been. He shook his head slowly, a gleam of tears in his eyes for his father, because it negated everything that a captain should be to refuse to understand, to refuse the responsibility of knowledge, even if it was unpalatable.
By Theresa McGarry9 years ago in Futurism
15 Must-Watch Anime (for DnD Players)
Dungeons and Dragons (DnD for short) remains one of the most popular fantasy roleplaying games around. It has drawn inspiration from tons of fantasy literature--from Tolkein's Lord of the Rings to Michael Moorcock's Elric Saga. Fans of DnD often seek out fantasy books and films to recreate that rush of imagination and inspiration they feel while rolling a twenty-sided dice. So often, however, they neglect anime in their pursuit.
By Anthony Gramuglia9 years ago in Futurism
The Summoning
Lord Armitage glided down the stone steps to the cellar of Armitage castle. The hem of his black velvet robe swept the ancient dust from the steps as he descended. The robe was embroidered in eldritch symbols with threads of precious and rare metals. If one were to stare at the designs they would seem to shift and move as the viewer struggled to bring sense to the design. His seamstress had committed suicide soon after finishing the garment, screaming about the ‘great writhing ones’ as she flung herself from the cliff.
By Edmund de Wight9 years ago in Futurism