Flying taxis could be carrying passengers in 2025, but hurdles remain

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 ]

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BookCon Adds Sci-Fi, Mystery and Thriller Authors to Adult Lineup

ReedPOP has unveiled a lineup of science fiction, mystery and thriller authors for BookCon 2018, which includes such authors as David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, Brad Meltzer, and Walter Mosley. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy' series editor John Joseph Adams shares how sci-fi is evolving

'Trying to achieve change through something like science fiction seems like a pipe dream,' Adams says. 'But it also feels like the only thing that writers can hope to do.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S Launches New Imprint with Kirkman's Skybound Entertainment

Skybound Books, a co-publishing agreement between Atria and The Walking Dead creator's multi-platform entertainment company Skybound Entertainment, will focus on science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It will be overseen by Michael Braff, who is based in L.A. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH presents Barbican-inspired Penguin Classics

Penguin Random House has developed a range of Barbican-inspired Penguin Classics to coincide with a new Barbican exhibition, Into the Unknown: A Journey through Science Fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookExpo 2017: The Future Is Now at Galaxy Press

For 33 years, Galaxy Press has been promoting the work of science fiction and fantasy writers and illustrators through the annual L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookNet Canada Offers Studies of Popular Genres

BookNet Canada has issued four studies looking at the demographics for book buyers of biographies/autobiographies, detective fiction, science fiction and cookbooks, each showing trends for the genre. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Finally, a NewFront Presentation That Looks Like What the NewFronts Sell

For decades the format for the TV upfronts has remained static: Agency executives and brand marketers wait in line outside of Radio City Music Hall or Carnegie Hall to listen to network leaders declare that their channels are No. 1 and hear some stand-up by the networks' late-night hosts. It all... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2017-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael Levy, Longtime 'PW' Reviewer, Dies at 66

Michael M. Levy, a scholar of science fiction and longtime 'Publishers Weekly' reviewer, died of cancer on April 3. He was 66. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder appoints former bookseller Sam Bradbury as SFF editor

Hodder and Stoughton has appointed Sam Bradbury, currently with Jo Fletcher Books, as editor with commissioning responsibilities in the area of science fiction, fantasy and horror, reporting to publisher Oliver Johnson. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Ahmed Khaled Towfik on the Outlook for Arabic Sci-Fi

Better times are ahead, says writer Ahmed Khaled Towfik, who recently appeared at Dubai’s festival: the Arab world is readier for science fiction, he says. By Dennis Abrams | @DennisAbrams2 ‘Looking Good for Science Fiction’ t The National, Hala Khalaf asserts that “Arab readers don’t like... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NASA demonstrates EM Drive theory, but don't get too excited

A fuel-free engine is the stuff of science fiction for now, but scientists at NASA Eagleworks have published a peer-reviewed paper that suggests the ideas behind an EM Drive are worth testing further. Researchers at Eagleworks, a small NASA team task... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2016-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Verso buys Miéville on Russian revolution

Science fiction and fantasy novelist China Miéville is to make a rare foray into non-fiction to pen a “labour of love” history of the Russian revolution for indie press Verso. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google swallows 11,000 novels to improve AI's conversation

As writers learn that tech giant has processed their work without permission, the Authors Guild condemns ‘blatantly commercial use of expressive authorship’When the writer Rebecca Forster first heard how Google was using her work, it felt like she was trapped in a science fiction novel. “Is this... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children of Time wins Arthur C Clarke award

British writer Adrian Tchaikovsky has won the Arthur C Clarke award for science fiction for his novel Children of Time (Pan Macmillan). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gaiman and Jemisin among Hugo award winners

Neil Gaiman and N K Jemisin were among the authors announced as winners at the 2016 Hugo Awards for science fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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​Airbus planning driverless sky Uber

A driverless air taxi to carry you over traffic in congested urban centers, ordered at the push of a button from your smartphone, may sound like science fiction, but Airbus believes it’s much closer to reality than you think. So close, in fact, that it hopes to test such a vehicle by the end of... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2016-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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N.K. Jemisin Has a Plan for Diversity in Science Fiction

The author took to Twitter today to give an explanation for how to increase diversity in science fiction. It starts with publishing more writers of color. The post N.K. Jemisin Has a Plan for Diversity in Science Fiction appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2016-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gollancz Festival 2016 partners with Foyles

Gollancz, Orion's science fiction and fantasy imprint, is partnering with Foyles for the Gollancz Festival 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Small Beer to Publish 400-Year-Old SF Novel

The Easthampton, Mass., press is preparing to release an English language edition of what it is calling the world's first science fiction novel, 'The Chemical Wedding,' written in German in 1616. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Wired' Culture Launches a Book Club

The editors of the publication’s culture section have selected N.K. Jemisin’s 'The Fifth Season' as the first title to be read in the new group, which will focus on works of science fiction and fantasy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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