sci-fi | Fast Company

10 Design's Sci-Fi-Worthy House Is Hurricane Proof

BY Belinda LanksTue Aug 30, 2011

Last week, New York was rocked by both an earthquake and a hurricane--two exceptionally rare events for the city. Now if only our over-preparedness in the case of Hurricane Irene made up for the relative under-preparedness of other ... READ»

APPLE | Comment

What Will You Do With All Those Discs Now That Apple's Killing The DVD?

BY Kit EatonWed Jul 20, 2011

Apple's new MacBook Airs and Mac Mini desktop machines have one less hole than they used to: A CD-DVD slot. Apple thinks the spinning optical drive is done. And soon the rest of the computing world will follow.READ»

LUDWIG ZELLER

Design Fictions: An EEG Cap To Turn Your Thoughts Into Ambient Noise

BY John PavlusMon Jul 11, 2011

I've been loving Ludwig Zeller's science-fiction-as-product-design experiments lately, and his latest brainchild, called "Introspectre," is quite the capper. Like his other works, Introspectre imagines a future "digital native" with ... READ»

ANDREW FRIEND

"Impactor" Turns Industrial Design Into Death-Defying Stunt

BY John PavlusFri Jul 8, 2011

We take all kinds of dangerous activities for granted, thanks to our faith in industrial designers and engineers: we roar across the skies at 30,000 feet, wield hand-tools capable of turning us into hamburger in an instant, put ... READ»

NERD

Infographic Of The Day: Star Wars, Retold In Icons

BY Cliff KuangWed Apr 20, 2011

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back was great -- easily the best of the all the Star Wars movies ever made. Problem is, it's been shown so many times on TV that it can be hard to actually watch the movie -- it's too familiar, and you ... READ»

INFOGRAPHICS OF 2011

Infographics Of 2011: A Mind-Blowing History Of Sci-Fi

BY Cliff KuangFri Mar 11, 2011

Artist Ward Shelley has produced another fine, fine, fine hand-drawn flowchart that will blow your mind: This time, it's dedicated to the 2,500 years of intellectual history that have produced the modern sci-fi genre. Which sounds ... READ»

Infographic of the Day: The Next 25 Years in Emerging Tech

BY Cliff KuangMon Mar 7, 2011

Everyday, we blitz you with news of exotic technologies that will change the world -- and so does everyone else. You'd have to be Ray Kurzweil to keep it all straight. But luckily, technologist Michell Zappa has created a simple cheat ... READ»

ROBOTS | Comment

Today in Robots: Fabulous Farm Droids, Scary Stick-on Spy Planes

BY Kit EatonTue Apr 27, 2010

Robots, robots everywhere, with barely time to think (about the coming robocalypse.) Mechanoids are a fact of life folks, and if you need proof then learn about Chinese farmer Wu Yulu and his list of robo pals, and Stanford's freaky ...READ»

LASERS | Comment

Fifty Years of Lasers, by the Numbers

BY Erica WestlyMon Mar 1, 2010

The first U.S. patent for the laser went to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes 50 years ago this month. Both physicists won Nobels for the work, which -- with that of ex-colleague Gordon Gould -- has sparked decades of innovation and sci-fi fantasy. A look at the data.READ»

ETHONOMICS | Comment

Coming Soon: "Melting" Drywall That Cools Your Home

BY Cliff KuangThu Feb 4, 2010

A new type of dry-wall could shave 20% off of cooling costs.READ»

DESIGN | Comment

Sugar and Vice: From Neo-Pop to Low Brow and Back

BY Mary-Louise PriceTue Oct 6, 2009

With Halloween upon us, we thought it apropos to offer some inspiration for your costumes this year: The recently-released book "EdgyCute: From Neo-Pop to Low Brow and Back Again" explores art that is sometimes goofy, sometimes spooky, but always twisted. These artists shine light on the bizarre corner of the art world where cute can also indeed be edgy.READ»

WAR ROOM | Comment

Navy's Future Command Center Looks Just Like the Star Trek Enterprise

BY Kit EatonWed Sep 30, 2009

A research lab inside the U.S. Navy tasked with dreaming up the future of the armed force has been busy working on a new command center design. It's suitably high tech--and is undeniably influenced by Star Trek.READ»

SCI-FI | Comment

Centaurs Unite! Prosthetics Let You to Walk Like a Horse

BY Cliff KuangTue Jun 23, 2009

Video of one of the weirdest products we've seen in awhile.READ»

CLOAK | Comment

Next-Gen Cloaking Devices Even Better At Hiding

BY Kit EatonMon Jan 19, 2009

The clever chaps at Duke University have been busy beavering away for years to make the sci-fi staple cloaking device a reality, and their recent results mean a real product is closer than ever. They've fabricated a better ...READ»