Great Futures Articles and Databases
In Top, STEEPS3, Multidisciplinary, and Fiction Categories
Place them in alpha order under each category, please.


Top Futures Articles and Databases

Essential Principles of Career Development. In: Economics: A World of Opportunity, Larry Smith.
1. Have passion for your work.
5. See yourself ahead as far as you can (up to 50 years!).
Please go read the rest...

http://www.jfs.tku.edu.tw/index.html
The homepage of the peer-reviewed Journal of Future Studies. The site has many articles that are free to view and most articles would likely help any student looking for scholarly sources for an essay. The article topics vary from future global economics and politics to predictions about countries and regions.

Science, Evolution, and Development Articles and Databases

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/06/genetics.climatechange
This was an article that my math teacher suggested would be interesting. It actually was, and its only one page long. The headling was "I am Creating Artificial Life" In the article it talks about a guy who has stripped down a becteria cell into near nothing-ness, then used it as a case to create a "synthetic chromosome." It also talks about how this discorvery could very well be the one that can lead to the eventual gene manipulation of humans, somewhat. Additionally how this discovery could lead to the creation of a bacteria that could consume carbon dioxide gas, thus reducing, or eliminating the threat of global warming, and even propane, and other fuel emitting bacteria that would only need sugar to produce such goods. This is definitely something you should read, and like I said, its not that long of an article. (stephen271)

Democritus -- Scientific Wizard Of The 5th Century BC
Speculations in Science and Technology, 21(1), 37-44, 1998. This essay considers how Democritus, in the 5th century BC, without much help from mathematics or technology, could discover that the world was built up from atoms, that the Sun was a common star, that the Milky Way was made up of unresolved stars, that mass and energy are conserved, etc. The answer: scientific reasoning. It is concluded that the empirical/conceptual approach can be a highly effective complement to the theoretical/mathematical approach in science. What if Democritus’ ideas and methods had caught on immediately, instead of being virtually ignored for 2,000 years? [Rarity and value of a culture of scientific inquiry]. - Robert Oldershaw

Bilbliography on Genetic Programming
http://liinwww.ira.uka.de/bibliography/Ai/genetic.programming.html
This is a database of a few thousand genetic programming papers. Genetic programming is an evolutionary programming technique which has been under some scrutiny due to the resources it had required to function, however, the advances in computational technology has allowed for genetic programming to produce novel results. This belongs to the futures section because one of the beautiful things about the artificial life methodology is that it can produce results which we had not previously recognized or perceived as real. Therefore, evolutionary programming has the potential to produce some of our future technologies by adding to the "menu that our brain defines as real." -Chris Schoerning

Technology and Information Articles and Databases

Is Technology Ruining Children?, J. Cornwell, Apr 2008.
Excellent article reporting neuroscientist Susan Greenfield's perspective that today's virtual technologies are taking away youth's abilities to think abstractly, to imagine, and to develop personal initiative, curiosity, and moral awareness. See also Ronald T. Floyd's article, Are We Losing the Ability to Think Abstractly? in Journal of Advancing Technology, Summer 2008. A call to awareness of the many ways our culture is being degraded by "first generation" uses of the incredibly compelling virtual environments in which we are all increasingly embedded.


Robots Vs Pirates Apparently, piracy (real piracy, not the BitTorrented variety) is all the rage off the coast of Somalia. The pirates that hijack ships and hold them and their equipment for ransom, sometimes killing crewmembers in the process. It isn't pretty. But the US Navy and Coast Guard have a trick up their sleeves: robotic boats. The 30 foot boat names Protector is fullyautonomous and comes with a huge mounted machine gun, go Navy - MustanshioMcHatman

Philips creates windows that make their own shade - An ordinary window to dull for you? Well with Philips new Daylight Concept "Active Glass," It allows you to interact with the window simply by waving your hand. Whether your creating plant life to block out the sun, or change the "tint" color. it is something that shows the potential for very interesting window shopping - MustashioMcHatman

Scientists Develop Artery Scurrying Micro Robot - The boffins at Chonnam National University have created a microscopic robot to be used in medical procedures to clear blocked arteries, the sugars in the patient's blood provide an alternative energy source. -MustashioMcHatman

Windbelt - Third World Power Generator. After being inspired by watching Washington's Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Galloping Gertlie) collasp due to high winds. ShawnFrayne believes that he has found a cheaper, more effiecient solution for wind power generators.-MustashioMcHatman

Solar Impulse - From Swiss Inventors, This Solar powered plane hopes to fly around the world, even at 40 mph, in 4 weeks. With a wing span of a Airbus. Its biggest challenge is storing energy to use at night. -MustanshioMcHatman

SILVIA - SILVIA is a complete system for the development and deployment of intelligent applications to almost any computing platform or operating system, with a technological core that allows humans to interact with computers in completely natural and intuitive ways. "You can actually carry on a conversation with Silvia...it is truly amazing. The responses from Silivia are intelligent and contextual, not just one or two words, but complete sentences. Could be used for call centers, smart phones, voice search, or many other voice related applications...the demo is mind blowing. You would have to see it to believe it...Cognitive Code is way beyond anything I have seen before. Amazing."

The Hard Science of Making Video Games, Ward et. al., Popular Science, Sept 2007
Discusses the "top ten" tech hurdles to making the next generation of highly realistic, immersive games, and how they'll soon be overcome.

Champion Robot Car Declared In the 1880s, the carriage lost its horse. Now, thanks to a car named Boss, the automobile could be about to lose its driver. The grounds of the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, CA, served as a mock city that the robots had to navigate. The course consisted of 60 miles of roads and parking lots and took about six hours to complete. The whole time, the robotic cars needed to obey traffic laws and avoid both cars driven by professional stunt drivers and the other robots on the course. - MustanshioMcHatman

Law of Accelerating Returns
Ray Kurzweil's Essay on technology as an exponential trend. This seminal essay paved the way for much of Kurzweil's Best Selling book, The Singularity is Near.

Limits to Biology (Performance Limitations on Natural and Engineered Biological Systems)
John Smart's essay describing the difficulties of biology-based radical life-extension.

True Chameleon Paint
Nissan hopes to create a paint that changes colors by adding a small electrical charge to its paramagnetic iron oxide paint polymer. - MustanshioMcHatman

World's Smallest Radio - Made of carbon nanotubes a few atoms across, it is almost 1,000 times smaller than current radio technology,"it is conceivable in the future that all components could be nanoscale, thus allowing a truly nanoscale wireless communications system." Professor Peter Burke -MustashioMcHatman

Bootstrapping our way to an ageless future
An excerpt from Aubrey De Grey's book "Ending Aging", published on kurzweilai.net. He discusses some of the technical challenges facing radical life extension as well as the
the monetary issues surrounding support for longevity research.

Robots showing emotion soon?
Powered by servos and microcontrollers, this will allow robotic faces to morph and change more then a normal human. While robots are still a ways away from being like us with A.I. or dynamic ability to move, they would be able to look and express emotion soon enough.-MustashioMcHatman

Unlitimited Power with in our grasp?
The Tokyo Institute of Technology claims that they have found a way to harness unlimited power from a practically-unlimited resource, Magnesium -MustashioMcHatman

http://www.jaronlanier.com/general.html
This page is about Jaron Lanier, one of my favorite furturists. It gives some insights into why he is considered one of the top futurist in the world. He coined the term virtual Reality and He founded one of the first companies that sold VR gear to the public. - Levar H

http://technabob.com/blog/2007/08/27/holographic-display-shows-360-degree-digital-images/
This is also another interesting technological advance worthy of being "futuristic" (man I love that word). In this article it presents something that was show off at the SIGGRAPH 2007 and it being a full 360 degree hologram I would definetly say this is something of great interest (its so cool and they also have a video!) - Disgaeafreak

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS). http://ntrs.nasa.gov
NTRS is a large database of information that you can freely search through although some of the reports might require further searching on your own or purchasing them. You can find reports on the space station, developmental research, antimatter, and much more. - Chris Schoerning

http://architecture.mit.edu/house_n/web/resources/articles/community/ClickZ%20Network%20THE%20ONLINE%20MARKETPLACE,%20A%20Look%20Ahead,%20by%20Michael%20Fischler.htm The future that the internet may adapt us too. In this article the guy goes into explaining how the internet and computer may be used to run your entire house one day. I think this is cool because this is probally where the future is headed and it may or may not be right on the money but it is probally close. - Michael Stringfellow

http://www.nickbostrom.com/revolutions.pdf
A article/paper on technology by Nick Bostrom. It goes into detail with the topic and is quite a long read. - W. Alex Plageman AKA warpped655


Cellphones become so advance they replace your dog - In a Finnish school sponsored by Nokia, the children work up a project with the upcoming N800 cellphone and create a little pet out of it. -MustashioMcHatman

http://www.nickbostrom.com/ethics/ai.html
A article on the ethics of future AI. It is a very interesting read on the effect of having AI with near-human like abilities. - W. Alex Plageman AKA warpped655

http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0696.html
Interesting article by science fiction author Vernor Vinge that explores the possibility of if the Technological Singularity (where we become or create beings that surpass current human intelligence) were to not happen. It's important to keep an open mind when dealing with the future; while something can be very probable, the probable frequently does not happen. [Trenton Kennedy aka Trentish]

http://www.openthefuture.com/2007/09/singularity_summit_talk_openne.html Presentation/Article by Jamais Cascio.
Talks about how the singularity is an important issue that will affect everyone and how we need an open and transparent process and discussion. Brings up some interesting issues such as: how ethical is it to change the world without consulting it first? [Trenton Kennedy aka Trentish]

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=5666232
This is a car that can drive itself! its good and futuristic because who doesn't dream of a car that you dont have to do drive? - Kino

http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/news/gizmos/story.html?id=b193e671-dbf6-4c1b-90c7-8f1aa34a86b2&k=58820
This isabout robot's effects on older people. It is interesting because it shows how the passing of time affects different age groups differently. - Kino

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/08/22/irobot_revamps_vacuums_plans_more_home_robots/
Article about home robot vaccums. I like this because its another one of those "small steps into the future." - Kino

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/815/815041p1.html
The forge is halo 3’s new map editor. This is just the future of gaming by far.

http://www.psu.com/Square-Enixs-White-Engine-is-cross-platform--a0001252-p0.php
The beautiful white engine is coming to 360. A big competitor is coming to the American market for engine buying.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&colID=30&articleID=00007A46-F8C5-1FD3-B58083414B7F0000-
Cognitive scientist Donald A. Norman argues that future machines will need emotions to be truly dependable.

This article gives a look at cars in the near future. http://www.motortrend.com/future/

This article has some intersting info on the future of robots and the oportunities they open up.
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/17931/?a=f

Genetically Engineered Super Mice!
Yesterday, a bunch of scientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, USA announced that they had successfully engineered a group of 500 genetically enhanced super mice that are super healthy, extremely aggressive, hyper active, higher in metabolism, have much longer lifespan compared to normal wild mice, can run pretty much non stop for 6 hours and can eat twice more than normal wild mice but only have half the weight. They say that human engineer is by far out of the question. Even with all the great powers the mice have, they obtained a few other abilities like altered behaviors and mental illnesses. - MustanshioMcHatman

ATHLETE
NASA's "All-Terrain Hex-Limbed Extra-Terrestrial Explorer," was designed for lunar cargo hauling. Its 8 limbs allow it to not only travel on diverse terrains, but can also "walk" is soft sands. Attachments like drills and claws can be added to wheel base for extra work, and cameras are every where for the best view possible at every angle. - MustanshioMcHatman

Here's a look at some robots being developped by the military. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/danger,-will-robinson/armys-autonomous-fighting-bots-bound-to-roll-all-over-you-256682.php

High-speed USB will also be here soon. http://www.usb.org/developers/docs/hs_usb_pdg_r1_0.pdf

Computerized antiaircraft gun suffers error, opens fire, kills 9, wounds 14 South African soldiers. - Pajamas

Cheap new portable motion capture tech
An amazingly cheap and accurate way to do motion capture with less obtrusive sensors. Portable, could be a new componenet of gaming or digital avatars. - Tom Andrys

Sensecam
A great step foreward in capturing information that goes through us, a small digital camera worn around the neck that takes pictures throughout the day then compiles them into a short video may help alzheimers patients. A perfect example of a real need driving a technology that will have much larger impact later on. - Tom Andrys

Environment, Energy, Resources, and Global Articles and Databases


We're only living in a 0.7 Civilisation, of course we can't Harness the Galaxy for power
Michio Kaku, professor of theoretical physics at City University of New York, has released an article stating that one day we maybe able to use the vary Galaxy we live in to harness power for ourselves. Stating that there is "3 Types of Civilizations." "Global pollution is a mortal threat for a Type 0 civilization, but not a Type I civilization, which has lived for several millennia as a global force and necessarily achieved ecological balance with its home planet. A type II civ would harness the energy of a star such as our sun, perhaps by building a huge sphere around it. A type III would harness the power of entire galaxies, controlling the life and death of stars at will." Very interesting read - MustanshioMcHatman

Career Education for a Global Economy, Sandra Kerka, ERIC Digest, 1993
A good basic article on education for a globalizing world. Needs an update.

Ships bring water to parched Barcelona - Tom Andrys

Inflatable Solar Arrays Cost 25X Cheaper then standard Panels
nflatatable solar? Cool Earth Solar has created a new technology that uses traditional photovoltaics and a new inflatable concentrator. We've seen plenty of mirror concentrators before, but this one is unique because it uses inflatable mirrors that are 400 times cheaper than polished aluminum mirrors. Though it has its draw backs, they hope to make it cheaper then non-renewable sources within three years! -MustanshioMcHatman


http://www.nickbostrom.com/existential/risks.html - A good article on less positive possibilities by Nick Bostrom. It it goes in depth on a topic of possible catastrophes and natural disasters. - W. Alex Plageman AKA warpped655

http://www.nickbostrom.com/astronomical/waste.html - An article on Astronomical Waste by Nick Bostrom. It is a topic that isn't commonly talked about, so its good to get something on it. - W. Alex Plageman AKA warpped655

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/24/pond_scum_breakthrough/
Genetic engineers have made a leap in developing a strain of algae with the potential to supply fuel for a future hydrogen economy

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07252/815920-85.stm
Salt water as fuel, this could change things on the energy front.

The Death of Environmentalism
Persuasive essay describing the failures of the environmental community the last 30 years
and their inability to deal with the global warming crisis effectively.

Spinning into control
A Science News Weekly article on using flywheels to store enegy, including on locomotives. -Pajamas

Superfast Lasers used to kill viruses
Researchers are using this ultrashort-pulse laser to destroy the protein shell of viruses. They say the laser frequency will not harm human cells. If their research works, this could be applied to cure uncurable diseases like HIV and Cancers. - MustanshioMcHatman

Wind dam
A new concept of wind power that involves using natural land forms to channel wind into more intense areas for harvest. - Tom Andrys

Gapminder/Trendalyzer
A web-based application to visually compare global trends. Link to TED Talk on it- Tom Andrys

Economics, Globalization, and Capitalism Articles and Databases

The End (of Wall Street's Boom), Michael Lewis, Portfolio.com, Dec 2008 ****
Nine pages, required reading. For more background, see also this short piece by financial journalist Tim Penn.
Fantastic expose of the 1985-2008 Wall Street insanity period, beginning with taking the investment banks public, starting with Solomon Brothers, and shifting all that risk to stockholders, and ending with the subprime mortgage and CDO Ponzi scheme and the 2008 collapse of the housing bubble, major public investment banks, and the market. Also tells the story of how great financial forecasters, like Steve Eisman and his gang of short sellers at FrontPoint partners, can clearly see the end of a major era of governmental and economic mismanagement, in this case the long looming US financial meltdown, can accurately predict and make money off it, yet won't be taken seriously except by the insiders. A little honesty goes a long way at the right time however, as we see in those analysts who foresaw the Great Depression (Ludwig von Mises, Jesse Livermore) and whose blunt statements actually contributed to the US stock market crashes of 1929 (Roger Babson) and 1987 (Meredith Whitney). If we actually made it easier for all of us to be short sellers, instead of scapegoating these individuals, as has been the recent misguided trend, we'd have an economic system where true foresight would be rewarded for all players. Let's hope that happens eventually, in our leading markets. Lewis's article is a perfect example of how public companies, while they are necessary and important, are by their very structure the most short-sighted and growth-at-all-costs oriented. Fortunately there are solutions available, and the best economies use them. Private business, not public, makes most (at least 70%) of our economy run, and generates the most jobs. The most foresighted governments dethrone Wall Street by democratizing the individual investor's ability to give loans to directly to private businesses, both individually and via pooled investments. I'm speaking now of the bond market, which is much larger than the equity market, and which keeps all equity markets honest. Good government policy can structure incentives such that most of the average citizen's investments are in bonds, mostly with private and small to mid-sized firms, where most of the innovation will always reside in any economy, and good tax policy should penalize those investors who have most of their asset in speculative and short sighted equities. We also need new classes of public and private equity markets that are structured to favor long term, less liquid investment horizons. Finally and most importantly, we need governance that measures, grows, and rewards technical productivity (TP), which is far more important as an indicator of economic strength than GDP growth. While most people (social responsibility investors excepted) will always be out for the greatest financial return, governments can always be out for the greatest technical capacity return (science, tech, engineering, automation) from their investments. Countries like Singapore and Japan and China already do this surprisingly well. As govt is the largest segment of the financial system, it can have the greatest effect on moving the economy to a post-GDP-centric world. Let's measure TP everywhere, difficult though it be, and invest our public resources for TP growth. Unlike money, which is jut a proxy for value, an abstract and fiat measure, TP is the most real physical value we can build, as a species, within an economic-social-political system. It is our greatest survival variable and asset, and the countries that realize this, and stay true to it, will be the scientific, economic, and moral leaders of the future. (John Smart)

Pay for things using your fingerprint!
Within the walls of Ten Chicago Shell Stations, they are testing a new method of paying for things, by simply place your finger on the biometric scanner, the money is deducted straight from your account. Just like a credit card but with out the fear of losing it or Identity Theft. Unless someone takes off your finger. Imagine calling Visa for that one - MustanshioMcHatman



Politics, Security, and Democracy Articles and Databases

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/21/delaware.shooting/index.html
This CNN article is about the shooting at Delaware State University. What is futuristic about it? Everyone this day is not a boy; people need to invest into putting money in their campus security.

Pistol cams- N.Y. police to begin testing pistols with attached cameras that begin rolling as soon as they're taken out of the holster.

New British Helmet Renders Plane Invisible, Frightens Kids
This Helmet Mounted Display System provides the pilot with cues for flying, navigating and fighting the aircraft. It will even superimpose infra-red imagery onto the visor which allows the pilot to ‘look through’ the cockpit floor at night and see the world below. -MustanshioMcHatman


Society 1 (Big): Culture, Media, Education and Religion Articles and Databases

Global Media, Law, and Ethics Course (MSTD400), Bill Kovariks, Radford University, 2003-5
Great source of trends and issues on media, law, and ethics.

Earthquake Sets Japan Back to 2147, The Onion, 23 July 2007
Hilarious piece about how a recent earthquake set Japan back technologically about 300 years. To 2147. Classic Onion!

Hong Kong to elect its own leader and legislators by 2020 BBC Dec 29 2007
Will megacities begin to move towards independence from the countries they're in? - Tom Andrys

Society 2 (Medium): Business and Organizations Articles and Databases
http://architecture.mit.edu/house_n/web/resources/articles/lifeinthefuture/FORTUNE_com%203_6_2000%20The%20Capitalist%20Century%20Office%20Fantasies%20of%20the%20Future.htm This is what the top businesses of today think the future of buisness offices will be like. I personally don't think it is right on the money but I think it brings some valuable information to the argument. - Michael Stringfellow

http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/17/coca-cola-readying-self-chilling-soft-drinks/
Coca Cola is developing a new soda that will make itself cold upon opening it. As we can see from this example, it is important to keep in mind that scientific breakthrough is frequently pursued for financial gain, not just discovery. - Trenton Kennedy aka Trentish]

No longer working in a cubicle..but a sphericle?
Designer Marcus Curran created this new workspace, the Eclipse partition system. The central idea behind this contraption is versatility. Its retractable hood allows for various levels of privacy and access to accommodate to the changing work flow of one's daily job. The hood also changes colors and graphics among having many other little things amenities to make you feel more comfortable in your workspace. - MustanshioMcHatman

Society 3 (Small): Personal & Careers Articles and Databases

http://architecture.mit.edu/house_n/web/resources/articles/Boston%20Globe%20Online%20-%20Business%20-%20Growing%20earth's%20'electronic%20skin'.htm
This article goes into what the future may proceed with in or future homes and lifes. It is a cool article because it shows just how far the technology of today may be taken in the future and what it's limitations may or may not be. - Michael Stringfellow

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19344/?a=f Article by Kate Greene which talks about Adobe Systems who is developing software that would allow mainstream computer users to create high quality graphics and animations. It’s interesting to think about what the average person will be capable of creating in the future. [Trenton Kennedy aka Trentish]

Audio Spotlight- a new approach to marketing; narrow beams of sound are directed at people similarly to the LRAD Long Range Acoustic Device to convey inescapable advertising audio. -Tom Andrys

Multidisciplinary Articles and Databases



Realistic Fiction Articles and Databases
[Realistic fiction has major parts which feel like they actually could happen in the future, under the right circumstances. Most fantasy and a lot of science fiction really doesn't count as realistic--there are exceptions however, and if you think that some particular aspect of a fantasy or SF quotation feels realistic, include it here and explain why. Future fiction is a subgenre of general or science fiction that feels realistic most of the way through, to many readers. Good future fiction is quite hard to write, as you can imagine.]
List Fiction Articles and Databases Below in Alpha Order by Title


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Articles and Databases of Uncertain Classification
Put below any articles or databases you recommend but can't easily classify above.


Disgaeafreak:This article that I found is about how the airforce is actually funding/ trying to develop anitmatter weapons. I my personal opinion that's just about as futuristic as it can get. The link is http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/04/MNGM393GPK1.DTL