Technology Category

DNA
Thursday 17 January, 2013

Covert Communication Via Viral Infection

Ilan Scheinkman shares his idea about how virus DNA can be used to send covert messages.


Russian bio-dome in Siberia
Sunday 13 January, 2013

Cities of the Future: The Domed City of Mir

Russian construction firm AB Elise has proposed turning one of the world’s largest opencast mines into a futuristic domed city.


lilypad-floating-city-03
Tuesday 01 January, 2013

Cities of the Future: Floating Cities

Tower blocks needn’t be the only answer; it is possible that as well as expanding our settlements into the sky, we might also expand outward onto the oceans. This could be done by constructing enormous floating cities.


Highway city of the future
Saturday 29 December, 2012

Cities of the Future: Highway Cities

Might future settlements become entirely linear, being shaped to fit the highways rather than highways being shaped to serve the city? Might the city and the highway actually become the same thing?


Transporter malfunction
Wednesday 27 June, 2012

An Idiot’s Guide to Teleportation

To teleport Captain Kirk, we need to scan him and find out every detail about his body (a sickening idea, I know). Every particle needs to be put back exactly where it was or Kirk might turn into a pile of goo, a vapour, or worse – an evil version of himself from a parallel universe.


endless portal
Sunday 15 April, 2012

Navigating Endless Portals

The idea is to have a portal without a definite shape and without definite borders. Most portals in science fiction are circular, but these portals would be more like an endless barrier, ribbon or crack, and they could conceivably stretch across the globe.


airborne wind turbine
Tuesday 03 April, 2012

Airborne Wind Generators: the Future of Renewable Energy?

The airborne wind turbine (AWT) uses a a helium-filled inflatable shell to rise to high into the air where winds are stronger and more consistent, making it much more reliable than conventional land-based wind turbines.


Apperture_Mars
Saturday 25 February, 2012

Terraforming via Telepresence and Telerobotics

Engineers and scientists located at NASA or aboard the International Space Station can control the motions of a number of remote controlled vehicles that would work in concert to terraform Mars.


project orion
Tuesday 17 January, 2012

Nuclear Pulse Propulsion

This very simple idea could see spacecraft reaching incredible speeds. The basic Project Orion design could have traveled to Mars and back in just 4 weeks. A trip to Saturn’s moons would be cut down from 9 years to just 7 months.


wheel space station
Sunday 20 November, 2011

10 Space Station Design Concepts

The space stations of today are little more than tin cans, but the space stations of the future are likely to be much more impressive. For decades, scientists have been predicting what shape future space stations might take. Here are some of their most enduring designs.


Tube transporter
Monday 15 August, 2011

The “U WhaT Tube”: It’s Like a Stargate, But Not a Stargate

The wormhole is the simplest and most elegant mode of transport science fiction has to offer. It’s a tried and tested narrative device – a good old-fashioned “magic doorway” with little scientific explanation required.


Transporter_pad
Monday 11 April, 2011

6 Alternatives to Faster-Than-Light Travel

Faster-than-light travel is one of the most revolutionary ideas science fiction has ever explored. This simple narrative device has made it possible for writers to explore distant worlds and expand human civilization out into the depths of space. However, it’s worth noting that FTL is just that; a narrative device – a means to an end.


water powered spaceship
Wednesday 30 March, 2011

Water Power: Slashing the Cost of Space Travel

I recently came across this article on space.com and did a fair amount of head scratching. It details a new idea to use a combination of water and solar power to propel spacecraft. The technology is sound and the spaceship design is actually pretty clever.