The aircraft—known as “electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, or eVTOL—lift off the ground like a helicopter. When he was still a boy making long, tedious trips between his school and his woodsy home in the mountains during the 1980s, JoeBen Bevirt began fantasizing about flying cars that could whisk him to his destination in a matter of minutes.As CEO of Joby Aviation, Bevirt is getting closer to turning his boyhood flights of fancy into a dream come true as he and latter-day versions of the Wright Brothers launch a new class of electric-powered aircraft vying to become taxis in the sky.The aircraft—known as “electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle, or eVTOL—lift off the ground like a helicopter before flying at speeds up to 200 miles per hour (322 kilometers per hour) with a range of about 100 miles (161 kilometers). And these craft do it without filling the air with excessive noise caused by fuel-powered helicopters and small airplanes.“We are just a few steps from the finish line. We want to turn what are now one- and two-hour trips into five-minute trips,” Bevirt, 51, told the Associated Press before a Joby air taxi took off on a test flight in Marina, California—located about 40 miles south from where he grew up in the mountains.Archer Aviation, a Silicon Valley company backed by automaker Stellantis and United Airlines, has been testing its own eTVOLs over farmland in Salinas, California, where a prototype called “Midnight” could be seen gliding... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'
[ Fast Company | 2025-01-08 15:38:34 UTC ]
This week, Senior Editor Kris Naudus takes a look at a book that will please both sci-fi nerds and design geeks. 'Typeset in the Future' explores the typography and design in science fiction movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, and more. Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2019-07-01 17:45:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“Unlike some of my hard science fiction books, such as ‘Seveneves’ — where I sweated the details of orbits, rocket engines, etc. — ‘Fall’ is meant to be read as more of a fable,” he says. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2019-06-28 09:00:08 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Samsung and AT&T recently opened their collaborative 5G Innovation Center to much fanfare. Here is what the two corporate behemoths are actually working on within the secretive walls of Samsung's multibillion-dollar facility in Austin. Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2019-06-26 15:45:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Tom Hunter, director of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, explores how science and speculative fiction publishing is dealing with the growing demand for diverse work. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Speculative writers flesh out our passing thoughts into complete, functioning societies and explore how they might unfold. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2019-04-18 09:22:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Watkins Media’s science fiction and fantasy imprint Angry Robot has hired a new commissioning editor, Eleanor Teasdale, who joins from literary agency Greene and Heaton. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-03-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The finalists for the 2018 Nebula Awards, considered some of the most prestigious in science fiction and fantasy, were announced on Wednesday, with novelists Tomi Adeyemi and Justina Ireland, filmmaker Boots Riley and musician Janelle Monáe among the nominees. Adeyemi and Ireland were nominated... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2019-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Sequel to the Canadian author’s bestselling feminist dystopia will be published around the world in September 2019Margaret Atwood has announced a sequel to her bestselling feminist dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale, titled The Testaments. It will be published in September 2019.“Dear Readers,”... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-11-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A new book festival for fans of fantasy, science fiction and horror is launching in Edinburgh next summer featuring authors including Scottish sci-fi writer Ken MacLeod and The Bone Season's Samantha Shannon. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Amazon Publishing’s science fiction and fantasy imprint 47North has signed the recent winner of the Arthur C Clarke Award, Anne Charnock, for a further novel, set in the “disturbing near-future”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This week: inside the golden age of science fiction, plus the epic drama of our atmosphere. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A new book looks at four men who are largely responsible for the genre of science fiction as we know it today. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2018-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
FutureBook is partnering with social reading app The Pigeonhole to run a short story competition exploring the future of the book. The winning author is to be hosted at the FutureBook Conference, 30th November. Judges will be Molly Flatt, author and associate editor of FutureBook; Anna Jean... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Four Tor authors—Charlie Jane Anders, Seth Dickinson, S.L. Huang, and V.E. Schwab—discuss identity, characters, and worldbuilding in science fiction and fantasy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Amazon Publishing’s science fiction and fantasy imprint, 47North, has signed a new series of books from author James Maxwell. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The novelist Margaret Atwood recently caused a stir when, during an interview with Variety, she said that the 9/11 hijackers “got the idea” to fly planes into buildings from watching “Star Wars.” Atwood, the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and other dystopian classics, did not have the facts... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
George R R Martin is funding a new annual scholarship at a science fiction and fantasy six-week course to “help the next great fantasist on the long journey ahead”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The prolific and profoundly influential writer, who brought a literary and feminist touch to works of science fiction and fantasy for children and adults, died at her home in Portland, Ore., on January 22. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Given her incredible skill at narrative economy, Ursula K. Le Guin could probably do a much better job of summing up her own achievements as a writer than I could. Then again, Le Guin could do most things better than most writers. An undisputed master of science fiction and fantasy, she also... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2018-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this