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future

For Readers: Slice of Life

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life in the future

Today’s reader topic comes from QSFer John Allenson: What about gay science fiction that is not about dashing heroics but just describes a mundane life in a fantastical future? I do really get into some of the little day to day details of the future, like the last episode of “Weeds” that predicted a coffee-bar style chain of marijuana stores. Or the way near-future tech worked in the everyday world in “Her”. Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat

For Writers: Death in the Future

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death

Every society has its ways of dealing with death. Some enforce long mourning periods in ritual dress. Some cover mirrors. Some hold celebrations of life. And of course there are countless individual variations as well. I once read a great book by a terrible author whose name I won’t share here, where telling the whole truth about a person, both the good and the bad, had become a tradition. It fascinated me – this idea that we do a disservice to people by only saying the good things about them after they have passed. On the practical side, cemeteries take … Read more

For Writers: Holidays of the Future

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Sci Fi Christmas - Pixabay

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth: With the Fourth of July nearly upon us here in the United States, I’m in a holiday mood. So I got to wondering. In the future (let’s say 500 years from now), what will the holidays look like? Will Thanksgiving and Christmas survive? What would a Valentines’ Day on Mars look like? Propose a holiday (current or new) for the year 2516, and tell us all about it. :) Bonus points for queering the holiday. Join the chat

For Writers: Diseases of the Future

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germs

Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Hank T. Cannon: There is a certain percentage of the population that cannot catch AIDS as their cells are missing the receptors that allow the AIDS virus to enter the cell. Per a TV show a year or two ago, on the Science channel as I recall, this genetic difference also seems to aid in surviving Bubonic Plague. Anyone done a story which explores this difference and its possible origin or whether in the future it will spread to more of the population? I see possibilities. It’s an interesting question. What would the diseases … Read more

Buses From The Futureeeeeeeee….

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future bus

Traffic is a huge problem in most urban areas but China’s is legendary. Now, a Beijing company has designed this futuristic bus which would take the place of up to 40 conventional buses, and glides over the top of traffic jams on rails. It’s still conceptual at this point. The Guardian reports: The “straddling bus”, which owes more to Blade Runner than China’s car-clogged highways, is supported by two legs that run along rails laid along the roadside. Those legs allow the TEB’s giant frame to glide high above the gridlock at speeds of up to 60km per hour. Equally, … Read more

For Writers: Restaurant of the Future

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Milliways

Eating out. It’s something we all do from time to time. Many of us have a favorite restaurant, a favorite waiter, a favorite meal we order again and again. But will the restaurant experience be the same in 100 years? Imagine the views from a restaurant on the space station. Or the cuisine that might be possible in a low or zero gè environment. So my questions today: What will the restaurant of the future look like? I’m betting on Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. :) Join the chat

For Writers: Around the World in 100 Years

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future plane

In a week and a day, I’ll be on a long flight across country to Orlando, where I will stay for three nights and then return home. I have to say, the return flight is one of my least favorite things. So my question today – how will we get around this globe of ours in three time frames: 50 years, 100 years, and 500 years? Be creative. :) Join the chat

For Writers: The Future of Religion

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A bit of a hot topic today – is there religion in your future? Sci fi has a long and sketchy history of dealing with religion. In many stories of the future, religion fades away in the face of reason. In others, it becomes a driving force. And yes, sometimes Sci Fi writers even create their own religions. And we all know how that ends. So my questions today: As a writer, do you include religion in your sci fi, and if so, what’s it like in the future? Will our current religions continue to predominate, will they fade away, … Read more

For Readers: Ripped From the Headlines

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Crystal Ball

Things are happening every day on the modern world. New worlds are being discovered or inferred (sorry, Pluto!), science is discovering cures for some things and new threats from others, and social movements are remaking societies. So our question for today: What current science or social story would you like to read a sci fi extrapolation of? Writers: This is a reader chat – you are welcome to join it, but please do not reference your own works directly. Thanks! Join the chat

For Writers: What Story Will Change the World?

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Crystal Ball

There have been a number of pivotal events in world history that have changed the course of human events, from the discovery of fire to the beginning of agriculture to the wheel, and more recently, from electricity to television to the internet. So get out your crystal balls. What one story or discovery (scientific, political, or otherwise) do you think will change the world the most in the next fifty years, and how? Join the chat here