humanity

The evolution of humanity, from one advancement to the next.

Redemption
Sera held her head in one hand, elbow resting on the bar, her fingers entwined in her short flaxen hair, almost as if she were about to pull it out. Her eyes spoke of a weary ferocity, all the more striking with her aquiline features. She liked this bar. It was quiet and hardly anyone came in unless they were a regular or someone just asking for directions. The fingers of her other hand grasped a glass that was running on empty, so she called to the bartender.
By Karyn Zen9 years ago in Futurism
Therapy
Phaedra had logged in. She found herself in a bland white virtual reality room. For her online avatar, Phaedra had chosen a slim black haired ebony skinned woman, beautiful and alluring. She rather liked the feel of her VR surrogate, her silk dress draped lazily over her and rustled in the artificial air. Overhead, a sign stated, "Ready in twelve seconds.” Phaedra began to wonder how the experience was going to be.
By Rod Christiansen9 years ago in Futurism
Chimera: The Entropy Effect
The four dark clad figures made their way down the metallic ladder, descending into the gloom beneath the bustling city. Each wore a suite of what appeared, to the untrained eye, to be bike leathers with additional armoured plates. The black helmets with their tinted visors added to the illusion. In truth, the suits were far more than bike leathers. The complex telemetry circuits built into them allowed any one of the four to monitor the vital signs of any team member and, if they so wished, to display it on the Heads Up Display or HUD hidden in their helmets. The auto medics built in to the armour would respond to injuries instantly, giving its user the greatest possible chance of survival. The life of every one of the four-person team had been saved more than once by their automedic.
By Bryan Irving9 years ago in Futurism
On Borrowed Time
Ever since man has looked up at the heavens there have been many unanswered questions about the destiny of mankind. These unanswerable questions have always reoccurred through each millennium. We have often asked are we all just dust in the wind in relationship to the enormity of the cosmos? Are we endowed by our creator not only as Thomas Jefferson wrote with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness but with the ability to survive, and coexist with other life forms elsewhere? Today, though it is quite evident that man has not yet perfected the art of just coexisting with humanity and nature right here on planet Earth let alone if we managed to be able to go anywhere else.
By Dr. Williams9 years ago in Futurism
Zolark of Desire
Writing prompts provide ways to challenge creative expression. In this Space Western microstory, the prompt was an imaginary word, “zolark”.
By Victor Acquista9 years ago in Futurism
Earth to Bill
It was 2013. I was now three and a half hours into a six-hour bus ride back to New York City from my hometown of Syracuse, NY. After an exciting, yet stressful visit with family, I wanted nothing more than to be back in my comfy little walk-in closet of an apartment. Instead, I sat motionless on a never-ending voyage on the river of pavement. I scanned the skies from my window as the evening sun had just about set. A passing sign indicated that we had just crossed into the Hudson Valley area. Snippets of such books as Dr. J Allen Hynek’s "Night Siege" and Ellen Crystall’s "Silent Invasion" began to trickle through my mind. I entertained the thought that perhaps a UFO sighting could cure my current state of boredom. I covered every angle of the sky I could, but the sun disappeared quickly and I was now left with an endless abyss of black. Any hope of seeing a structured craft soon faded with my patience for the incessant amount of elbowing from the woman sitting next to me. She noticed me peering intently through the smudged window and asked what I was doing. Three answers flashed through my mind:
By Ryan Sprague9 years ago in Futurism
From the 5th Book, "Hegira," The Prologue, "Decision on Vandeventer"
She remembered. It was a Saturday morning over 30 years ago. Must have been early Winter, steam billowed from car exhaust. Sitting alone, in a diner on Vandeventer Avenue, a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her, she made a decision.
By Teresa McLaughlin9 years ago in Futurism
That Ain't No Little Green Man
Decades of entertainment and pop culture have invaded our eyes and ears with tales of little green men coming from destinations unknown and plaguing our skies and our homes. These little green critters often changed throughout the decades as stories spread and culture shifted. So when we hear the stories of close encounters with what we often consider aliens, it's no wonder that some of these more radical reports get brushed to the side. They just seem to be too damn strange. They don't fit the prototypical alien mythology we've been conditioned to believe (or not believe) is true. They bend the rules and they challenge the norm. So what are these outsiders amongst outsiders? Let's take a look at a few cases of possible monsters from above... or possibly below.
By Ryan Sprague9 years ago in Futurism
From the 4th Book, "The Far, Far West," The Prologue, "Descent Into Darkness"
It was the land of the dead, the underworld, the abyss; the land beyond the edge of the world, where the sun never rose, where light was choked out.
By Teresa McLaughlin9 years ago in Futurism
Excerpt From the 3rd Book, "To Break Bread with Strangers," The Prologue, "Banquet at Uruk"
She felt a cascade of changing memories. Like double vision, as if one eye blurred while the other remained clear. Different images of the same event vibrated against each other. The dissonance made her dizzy. Standing alone in the cathedral, looking from the nave to the crossing, she felt it.
By Teresa McLaughlin9 years ago in Futurism
Humanity 2.0
I’m going to take a moment to point out some observations on how humanity has developed, and what they may mean for our future. As a lover of all things science and science fiction, I have always been keenly interested in wondering how technology has affected us as a society. It has just sped communication up, as expected, but it changed the fundamentals of communication. It hasn’t just given us more information about the universe, it has changed the entire skyline of reality. In the 1960’s, everyone was certain that we would be settling and mining the solar system by now. Why aren’t we? Because we haven’t taken the next step in our evolution, yet. That evolution will probably lead to the end of life as we understand it, because there are far too many unpredictable hazards for biological organisms to explore space.
By Mickey Finn9 years ago in Futurism
Enceladus' Ice-Covered Ocean Closer to Surface Than Previously Thought
When it comes to places in the Solar System to search for possible alien life, Saturn's moon Enceladus is now right near the top of the list. Like Jupiter's moon Europa, it has a subsurface ocean of water, and even plumes/geysers of water vapor which erupt from fissures in the icy surface near the south pole. Those plumes contain organics as discovered by the Cassini probe and there is evidence for hydrothermal activity on the ocean floor, just like on Earth. The fissures are warmed by heat from below, and now there is evidence that some of them are even warmer than expected, meaning that water could be closer to the surface than previously thought.
By Paul Scott Anderson9 years ago in Futurism