Hello Extropes,
On the front page of my Int'l Herald Tribune this morning was an
article titled: "European Space Agency Boldly Goes to Sci-Fi Fans for
New Ideas"
"Now as part of Europe's bid for a technological lead, the European
Space Agency, is asking the public to submit ideas from scienc-fiction
novels that might warrant a fresh look in light of advances in
technology and materials.
It takes an average 60 scientific flashes of brilliance to produce one
that is usable, and the agency is casting the net wide for new ideas."
>From that article, go to
http://itsf.spaceart.net/ and click on "Information".
You will find these paragraphs
"How you can contribute (and why you should)"
Some people tend to see Science Fiction as pure imagination with no
serious scientific background.
The ITSF study is an opportunity to see not only if SF does indeed
express ideas that are ahead of their time (in the field of space
technologies), but also whether they could actually be developed. It
is an in-depth look beyond the actual borders of science and
techniques, and it deals with exciting concepts that might be explored
in the next decades. This project could also contribute to some of
these ideas being further studied by ESA engineers in the near future.
For SF fans, the ITSF study should be a stimulating perspective, as it
will create an unique review of imaginative ideas related to space
technologies found in the SF domain. It might even give ideas to
authors and affect new trends in Science Fiction...
Therefore, if you are interested in technology, new concepts, space or
Science Fiction (literature, films or art), you are welcome to join
the ITSF E-mail Discussion Forum: comments and explanations regarding
the Fact Sheets or evaluation of technologies will be discussed there,
as well the study itself and how it is (or should be) conducted. You
can also use the Fact Sheet Submission Form if you have in mind any
technology that hasn't been listed yet and that you think is worth
considering (please refer to the "Fact Sheet help menu" to guide you
in filling the form). Also, if you are aware of any resources on the
Internet that may be relevant to this study, you are invited to add
them to the ITSF Resources list."
(Follow up the Links)
ITSF E-mail Discussion Forum
Fact Sheets
Fact Sheet Submission Form
ITSF Resources
Kinda cool, huh?
Amara
--*************************************************************** Amara Graps | Max-Planck-Institut fuer Kernphysik Interplanetary Dust Group | Saupfercheckweg 1 +49-6221-516-543 | 69117 Heidelberg, GERMANY Amara.Graps@mpi-hd.mpg.de * http://galileo.mpi-hd.mpg.de/~graps *************************************************************** "Never fight an inanimate object." - P. J. O'Rourke
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