Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Futurism.
Medicinal Mushroom Magic
Medicinal mushrooms produce medically important natural metabolites or can be induced to do so with biotechnology. There is a range of medical compounds that include antibiotics, cholesterol inhibitors, anti cancer drugs, psychotropic drugs, and a few fungicides. Though early discoveries focused on basic moulds which cause spoiling of food, later work would identify helpful compounds across many types of fungi. Naturalists have preached the benefits of medicinal mushrooms for decades. They know where to find the best fungi and understand the sound scientific benefits of the specific types of mushrooms they find.
By Futurism Staff11 years ago in Futurism
Science Fiction Author Frederik Pohl
Pohl’s early career unfolded over the background of the Great Depression and the Second World War, a climate of unimaginable fear and uncertainty. This was the so-called "Golden Age" of science fiction, the years of John W. Campbell's catalytic editorship of Astounding Science Fiction, when pulp publishing was slowly metamorphosing into a defined genre, an era when its practitioners hadn’t yet begun to comment on the gloomy aspects of progress. To Pohl’s generation, science represented the potential for escape from the disaster of economic failure and war. No one was looking for a downside; they only saw the virgin capacities of uncolonized planets, and dreamt of a people united in the betterment of the species through new technology. “In those early days,” Pohl writes in his lovely collection of short stories, The Early Pohl, “we were as innocent as physicists, popes and presidents. We saw only the promise, not the threat.”
By Claire Evans11 years ago in Futurism
I Surgically Implanted Earbuds Under My Skin
The human body doesn't do upgrades. Take poor care of your machinery, and there's no reboot, no system overhaul, no virus software that can come to your aid. In terms of the basic sensory apparatus and what it offers, you're pretty much stuck with the equipment you're born with. At least, until now.
By Claire Evans12 years ago in Futurism
Weird Scientology Facts
Leah Remini once believed in it. Tom Cruise still believes in it. The "it" would be the mysterious and sometimes devious Church of Scientology. Unless you are on the inside, the beliefs system of Scientologists is a curious matter. Try as you might to understand it, some things are better left alone. But, if you would like to broaden your horizons and learn a little something something about what all the fuss is about, take a journey into Scientology. Read on and learn 10 things you most likely did not know about the place that John Travolta calls home.
By Matthew Wilder12 years ago in Futurism
Fictional Sci-Fi Movie Drugs
With names like Nuke, NZT, and Bacta, it isn't always easy to tell the difference between a sci-fi movie drugs and something you might find on the List of Schedule I Drugs. Irrespective of the fictitious nature of the drugs, the films have still managed to ignite controversy. The existence of the drugs is not in question, the probability that they will not eventually be created is not as clear. Future drugs in science fiction tend to be divided into two categories. Many of the drugs are geared more towards enhanced abilities and unbound power. Other drugs are more traditional in nature, some spiritual and some recreational.
By Futurism Staff12 years ago in Futurism
Jodorowsky's Dune
Near the start of Jodorowsky's Dune, Frank Pavich’s new documentary on the unmade movie version of novel Dune, its primary subject—auteur filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowksy —tells the audience he wanted his version of to make people feel like they were tripping on LSD. In Jodorowsky's Dune, the powerful self-appointed messiah isn’t a prescient hero named Paul Atreides—it’s Jodorowksy himself. He speaks to his cat in the middle of interviews, rants like a child throwing a temper-tantrum, and grins, Cheshire-like, before declaring “I rape the Frank Herbert. BUT with love!” Is this guy for real? No! But that’s sort of the point.
By Ryan Britt12 years ago in Futurism
Most Creative Video Games
Everyone knows Halo and Call of Duty but they don’t get your creative juices flowing! We compiled a list of the most creative video games. These games are unique, and develop your creativity far more than other video games. Some of the games allow you to create anything you want, while other games just have a unique gameplay and plot.
By Futurism Staff12 years ago in Futurism
Will Artificial Intelligence be Nostalgic?
In 1996, I decided to teach myself to use my parents’ turntable. They weren’t home; I was sixteen years old. I really, really wanted to listen to The White Album on vinyl. I had a version of it on cassette, but I craved the authentic experience. At the time, I believed that I related more to The White Album than my parents did. I always loved The Beatles when I was young, maybe because digging something “vintage” is part of the same emotional gymnastics involved with reading and loving science fiction.
By Ryan Britt12 years ago in Futurism
Dune
If there's anywhere the old axiom about judging a book by its cover holds true, it's science fiction. Few classic sci-fi authors and their cover artists ever see the same vision for the cover illustration. Typically it is the publisher that makes the final choice. Dune art was different. John Schoenherr connected to Frank Herbert's vision immediately. He was able to tell the same story visually. "Herbert wrote in 1980 that though he had not spoken to Schoenherr prior to the artist creating the paintings, the author was surprised to find that the artwork appeared exactly as he had imagined its fictional subjects, including Dune Sandworms, Baron Harkonnen and the Sardaukar." An extraordinary illustrator is capable of contributing to a piece of literature and even enhancing its message. In the case of an artist like John Schoenherr, he became the franchise's joint architect and left a mark no less indelible than the novel itself.
By Futurism Staff12 years ago in Futurism
