Japan and JAXA, the country’s space administration, have spent decades trying to make it possible to beam solar energy from space. In 2015, the nation made a breakthrough when JAXA scientists successfully beamed 1.8 kilowatts of power, enough energy to power an electric kettle, more than 50 meters to a wireless receiver. Now, Japan is poised to bring the technology one step closer to reality.Nikkei reports a Japanese public-private partnership will attempt to beam solar energy from space as early as 2025. The project, led by Naoki Shinohara, a Kyoto University professor who has been working on space-based solar energy since 2009, will attempt to deploy a series of small satellites in orbit. Those will then try to beam the solar energy the arrays collect to ground-based receiving stations hundreds of miles away.Using orbital solar panels and microwaves to send energy to Earth was first proposed in 1968. Since then, a few countries, including China and the US, have spent time and money pursuing the idea. The technology is appealing because orbital solar arrays represent a potentially unlimited renewable energy supply. In space, solar panels can collect energy no matter the time of day, and by using microwaves to beam the power they produce, clouds aren’t a concern either. However, even if Japan successfully deploys a set of orbital solar arrays, the tech would still be closer to science fiction than fact. That’s because producing an array that can generate 1 gigawatt of... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2023-05-28 21:43:38 UTC ]
While science fiction is often preoccupied with the threat of artificial intelligence successfully imitating human intelligence, researchers say a bigger danger right now is people using the technology to imitate one another. A recent survey from the University College of London ranked deepfakes... Continue reading at AdWeek
[ AdWeek | 2020-08-05 21:14:18 UTC ]
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Have you ever noticed how many scenes in science fiction and military movies take place in a command center? Whether it’s a fictional character like Captain Kirk aboard the USS Enterprise or a real-life crisis unfolding in the White House situation room, the command center plays a critical role... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-08-03 07:00:00 UTC ]
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The science fiction world is having a bit of a week. Today, New Zealand, the host of this year’s World Science Fiction Convention (WorldCon), virtually kicked off one of the world’s most popular sci-fi events. New Zealanders had been preparing for the international convention, which normally... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-29 17:44:32 UTC ]
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Sci-fi preconceptions are challenged by little-known marvels from James Tiptree Jr, Angélica Gorodischer and othersThe border between science fiction and mainstream literature is more permeable than booksellers or publishers would have us think. Double Booker prize-winner Margaret Atwood’s... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-07-27 06:00:46 UTC ]
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Netflix's German science fiction series stuck the landing in its third and final season. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2020-07-24 16:00:00 UTC ]
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From space operas with sapphic women to nonbinary artists and mechanical dragons! Check out this this list of 2020 adult LGBTQ+ science fiction books, including The Seep by Chana Porter. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-07-17 10:36:49 UTC ]
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“The City We Became” and “Vagabonds” made waves. Next up: Susanna Clarke’s “Piranesi.” Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-07-14 05:34:00 UTC ]
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H. G. Wells helped pioneer science fiction with his 1898 book The War of the Worlds. Many iterations later, it still scares and fascinates us. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-07-06 19:54:21 UTC ]
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Need some cheering up and an out-of-this-world story? Pick up some of the funniest science fiction books this side of the galaxy. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-30 10:34:22 UTC ]
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Over the weekend, the winners for this year’s Locus Awards were announced. For a little otherworldly, escapist fiction, read on! (Also, can we talk about this rocket-shaped trophy? The winners must be over the moon!) * SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL Charlie Jane Anders, The City in the Middle of the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-29 15:20:49 UTC ]
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Stack your Pride TBR with these hopeful, queer science fiction and fantasy novels where queer characters are celebrated and highlighted. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-29 10:35:00 UTC ]
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Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy has long been one of the great unadaptable science fiction works (read more on that here, along with a catalogue of Asimov’s awful serial harassment of women), but after 50 years, it has finally made it to screens. Starring noted tall man, Lee Pace (along with... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-23 14:28:10 UTC ]
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THE STARLESS SEA, Erin Morgenstern’s sophomore fantasy novel, takes effort to read, but there are countless narratively complex works of science fiction and fantasy that amply reward such effort: N. K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season comes to mind as one recent, prominent example of the type. The... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-06-20 17:00:48 UTC ]
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Many years ago, I heard a teacher of mine, the late John Gardener, once say that there are only two plots in all of literature: you go on a journey or a stranger comes to town. Or, as Stanley Elkin put it even more succinctly (in reference to science fiction), you go there or they […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-06-08 08:47:33 UTC ]
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Get to know the fantastic and thrilling world of the DINOSAUR TRAIN series, a shining example of science fiction for early readers. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-06-02 10:35:52 UTC ]
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Penguin Classics is to launch a new series of world science fiction "to challenge stereotypes about the genre". Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-28 09:00:55 UTC ]
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A NUMBER OF RECENT ESSAYS and articles have revisited classic literary texts that depict disease pandemics, scouring them for ideas and strategies that might prove useful in our current predicament. An essay in The Boston Review examines Boccaccio’s Decameron (1353), which emerged out of... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-05-27 19:00:30 UTC ]
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Robin Sloan, the author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, discusses his new short story for The Atlantic. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2020-05-15 13:00:00 UTC ]
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For about two months in 1970, ITV aired episodes of a bonkers science fiction comedy series based (oh so very loosely) on Miguel de Cervantes’ literary classic Don Quixote. The show, entitled The Adventures of Don Quick, follows an astronaut named Don Quick (Ian Hendry) and his sidekick, Sam... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-12 17:39:44 UTC ]
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Looking for your new favorite science fiction podcasts? We've got you covered, from sci-fi podcast dramas to podcasts about science fiction books. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-05-11 10:39:41 UTC ]
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