SciFi Tech Talk

Taking a different approach to the podcast this week. Julie and Jeff are joined by Jeff Gamet to discuss the technology of "local" transportation as it is depicted in several scifi universes.

Trek Nation is a documentary film directed by Scott Colthorp examining the positive impact that Star Trek and creator Gene Roddenberry may have had on people's lives as seen through the eyes of his son, Eugene Roddenberry, Jr. ("Rod"). It includes interviews with cast members and crew from all five Star Trek shows, as well as various fans and celebrities who were markedly influenced by the show while growing up. - Wikipedia

The Tech: every Trek tech ever

Buck Rogers “is the titular 20th century astronaut who goes on a space mission only to awaken 500 years later on a very different Earth, where he's chosen to aid a special defense organization because of his superior piloting skills.” -- Netflix

The Tech: spaceships, cryrogenics (again), mutants, lasers, AI (Dr Theopholus), courts run by AI, sports, Olympics

“Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord—a time travelling, humanoid alien with two hearts known as the Doctor. He explores the universe in his TARDIS—a sentient,telepathic time machine that flies through time and space. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, a common sight in 1963, when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, the Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilisations, help ordinary people, and right wrongs.” -- Wikipedia

The Tech: sonic screwdriver, Tardis, regeneration

20 minutes or 20 years into the future--take your pick for this classic, prophetic and very cool series from 1987: Max Headroom! Get a pretty dead-on look at the world of our present and probably near future, but from 20 years ago.

The Tech: tasers, CCTV, instant ratings data, videoconferencing, 3D mapping

“Nineteen Eighty-Four is a novel by George Orwell published in 1949. It is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party.[1] Life in the Oceanian province of Airstrip One is a world of perpetual war, pervasive government surveillance, and incessant public mind control, accomplished with a political system euphemistically named English Socialism (Ingsoc), which is administered by a privileged Inner Party elite.[2] Yet they too are subordinated to the totalitarian cult of personality of Big Brother, the deified Party leader who rules with a philosophy that decries individuality and reason as thoughtcrimes; thus the people of Oceania are subordinated to a supposed collective greater good.[1] The protagonist, Winston Smith, is a member of the Outer Party who works for the Ministry of Truth (Minitrue), which is responsible for propaganda and historical revisionism. His job is to re-write past newspaper articles so that the historical record is congruent with the current party ideology.[3] Because of the childhood trauma of the destruction of his family – the disappearances of his parents and sister – Winston Smith secretly hates the Party, and dreams of rebellion against Big Brother.” - wikipedia.org

The Tech: Big Brother, phones, food, torture

In this German silent movie from 1927, Metropolis, the gleaming city of tomorrow, has a dark underbelly where workers continually operate the machinery that keeps the city running. The privileged son of the city leader discovers its dark secret and mediates when a revolt ensues. “The mediator between head and hands must be the heart!” The revolt is fueled by an android made to look like a saintly woman, but whose mechanical version is just the opposite.

The Tech: machinery, videophones, cars, elevated trains, 10-hour clock, robots

Kirk and his crew find a ‘sleeper ship’ of genetically bred superhumans, led by the ruthless 20th century dictator Khan Noonian Singh, who tries to take over the ship with the help of a 23rd century archaeologist who falls in love with him.

The Tech: eugenics, radio (ham signal - CQ), cryogenics, intercoms v. communicators, viewing screen in sickbay that ties into ship library tapes, hair doodads, literature (Milton), interstellar travel

Story takes place in the near future. A hitman has been making hits that have been contracted by an AI spam filter to eliminate spam by having the spammer assassinated. He’s been given instructions, information, and assistance through crowdsourcing. After figures out he’s actually working for a company, who he believes has turned on him, he kills much of their board of directors. However, he ultimately meets his end at the hands of another assassin filling a contract generated by another, competing computer from another, competing company.

The Tech: artificial intelliigence, crowdsourcing, smart filters

“The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.” ~ B.F. Skinner

A short story by Issac Asimov that looks at the future of education through the eyes of children 100+ years in the future (200 from publication date). Two children discover an ancient educational device in their grandma’s attic called a “book.” They marvel at the idea that children once went to school to be taught together by a person rather than have individual instruction at home on their mechanical “teacher.”

The Tech: a mechanical "teacher"