Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!planchet.rutgers.edu!nanotech From: eachus@largo.mitre.org (Robert I. Eachus) Newsgroups: sci.nanotech Subject: Re: Near abs. 0 for $350 Message-ID: Date: 12 Jun 91 16:17:09 GMT Sender: nanotech@planchet.rutgers.edu Organization: The Mitre Corp., Bedford, MA. Lines: 27 Approved: nanotech@aramis.rutgers.edu The mechanism in the McLaughlin story is slightly different, but it is another example of a disturbing phenomena often observed recently in Analog. Wild-eyed theories that, by the time the story is published, can be compared to what is appearing in technical journals with about the same lead time. But if, right now, science fiction at its wildest is having trouble anticipating the present, in a few years ALL science fiction will be historical fantasy, and we will have lost an important tool for dealing with future shock. This shock is accelerating--and not just in science. One of my favorite examples is the computer game Balance of Power 1990, which was obsolete a few months after it was published, and well before 1990. In science right now, the rate of progress is staggering. I'm just waiting for some (presumably on-line) magazine or newsgroup to start publishing a list of the top ten scientific discoveries of the month... Come to think of it, sometimes sci.nanotech comes pretty close to doing just that. -- Robert I. Eachus with STANDARD_DISCLAIMER; use STANDARD_DISCLAIMER; function MESSAGE (TEXT: in CLEVER_IDEAS) return BETTER_IDEAS is...