Sci-Fi Scenarios Becoming Reality?

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My "Intro to Lit" class is reading Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age; I recently asked them to write a mock news story based on a trial described in the novel. The evidence introduced included data and images from surveilence drones, as well as tiny devices that entered the suspect's bloodstream and permitted authorities to track him.

A version of O.J. Simpson's flight, filmed by news helicopters, was first imagined by Ray Bradbury in Farenheit 451. We have a long way to go until nanomachines in our bloodstream can track our whereabouts (so far as I know, anyway) but check out this news article:

Judge Allows GPS Data in Peterson Case

A judge ruled that evidence police gathered using electronic devices to track Scott Peterson after his pregnant wife disappeared can be used in his murder trial, despite defense objections that the technology is unreliable. Because global positioning system technology has yet to be tested in state criminal court, prosecutors had to establish its reliability and demonstrate the technology was used correctly.

Another notable feature of the world of The Diamond Age is paper that obeys voice commands. That's still a long way off, but see this article on flexible, paper-thin comptuer screens.

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This page contains a single entry by jerz published on February 18, 2004 12:06 PM.

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