Imaginary Papers: Issue 22

The Applied Sci-Fi Project, made possible by support from the Sloan Foundation, is an event series and research project that brings together science fiction writers, futurists, scholars, and technologists to

Anna Maria Grzybowska, Fitz Madrid & Ari Brin

Sarah M. Ruiz, Libia Brenda & Rachael Kuintzle

Leah Newsom, Samuel Clamons & Andrew Dana Hudson

By Deji Bryce Olukotun This essay was originally published by the Center for Science and the Imagination in Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures, a 2017 collection

Philipp Kürten, Chinelo Onwualu & Christopher Cokinos

Alexis Lothian, David J. Staley & Joey Eschrich

with Souvik Mukherjee & Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay

Erin K. Wagner, Joe Tankersley & Joey Eschrich

David K. Seitz, Katherine Buse, Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal & Joey Eschrich

Mateo Díaz Choza, Devan Hakkal & Joey Eschrich

A story about ability and disability, journalism, and creating adaptable communities.

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Us in Flux is a new series of short stories and virtual gatherings to explore themes of community, collaboration, and collective imagination as a response to transformative events. Learn more

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Jonathan Alexander. Jonathan is Professor of English and Informatics at The University of California, Irvine and author of books such as Writing Youth: Young

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Jonathan Alexander. Jonathan is Professor of English and Informatics at The University of California, Irvine and author of books such as Writing Youth: Young

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Jonathan Alexander. Jonathan is Professor of English and Informatics at The University of California, Irvine and author of books such as Writing Youth: Young

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Jonathan Alexander. Jonathan is Professor of English and Informatics at The University of California, Irvine and author of books such as Writing Youth: Young

This episode of The Imagination Desk features the band YACHT or Young Americans Challenging High Technology. We spoke with them about their new album Chain Tripping and it’s use of machine

This episode of The Imagination Desk features the band YACHT or Young Americans Challenging High Technology. We spoke with them about their new album Chain Tripping and it’s use of machine

This episode of The Imagination Desk features the band YACHT or Young Americans Challenging High Technology. We spoke with them about their new album Chain Tripping and it’s use of machine

This episode of The Imagination Desk features the band YACHT or Young Americans Challenging High Technology. We spoke with them about their new album Chain Tripping and it’s use of machine

This episode of The Imagination Desk features science fiction heavy-weight Paolo Bacigalupi, author of The Water Knife and Shipbreaker. We caught up with him in this bonus episode to discuss

This episode of The Imagination Desk features science fiction heavy-weight Paolo Bacigalupi, author of The Water Knife and Shipbreaker. We caught up with him in this bonus episode to discuss

This episode of The Imagination Desk features science fiction heavy-weight Paolo Bacigalupi, author of The Water Knife and Shipbreaker. We caught up with him in this bonus episode to discuss

This episode of The Imagination Desk features science fiction heavy-weight Paolo Bacigalupi, author of The Water Knife and Shipbreaker. We caught up with him in this bonus episode to discuss

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Maureen McHugh. Maureen is an author and narrative designer who has worked on some of the biggest transmedia stories and alternate reality games

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Maureen McHugh. Maureen is an author and narrative designer who has worked on some of the biggest transmedia stories and alternate reality games

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Maureen McHugh. Maureen is an author and narrative designer who has worked on some of the biggest transmedia stories and alternate reality games

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Maureen McHugh. Maureen is an author and narrative designer who has worked on some of the biggest transmedia stories and alternate reality games

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Matt Derby. Matt is a writer and designer who works on innovative media projects where these two disciplines meet. Matt is a designer

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Matt Derby. Matt is a writer and designer who works on innovative media projects where these two disciplines meet. Matt is a designer

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Matt Derby. Matt is a writer and designer who works on innovative media projects where these two disciplines meet. Matt is a designer

This episode of The Imagination Desk features Matt Derby. Matt is a writer and designer who works on innovative media projects where these two disciplines meet. Matt is a designer

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Why: Mark Siegel is an award-winning illustrator, New York Times bestselling author and the founder and editorial director of First Second Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers that creates graphic novels

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Patrick McGurrin

Cody Staats

Patrick McGurrin

Alex Halavais

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Bob Beard

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Peter Nagy

Samuel Arbesman

Madeline Ashby

Jamie Winterton

Annalee Newitz

Matt Scherer

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When technologists describe their hotshot new system for trading stocks or driving cars, the algorithm at its heart always seems to emerge from a magical realm of Spock-like rationality and mathematical perfection. Algorithms can save lives or make money, the argument goes, because they are built on the foundations of mathematics: logical rigor, conceptual clarity, and utter consistency. Math is perfect, right? And algorithms are made out of math.

Corey S. Pressman

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Our neocortex is very adept at automation – at habitualizing complex behaviors and routines of thought. Consider: how much of your day is patterned? How much of your thoughts are processes you’ve repeated before? A lot! And this is a good thing: automation frees up our minds for the good life, the life examined, the life of the mind.

Corey S. Pressman

We spend an awful lot of time now thinking about what algorithms know about us: the ads we see online, the deep archive of our search history, the automated photo-tagging of our families. We don’t spend as much time asking what algorithms want.

In 1562, Don Carlos, the seventeen-year-old heir apparent to the Spanish throne, falls down a flight of stairs. Tragically, he sustains a terrible head wound. His father, King Philip II,

Corey S. Pressman

By Michael G. Bennett and Libbie Richards, Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Every sea on Earth is plagued by massive amounts of trash. Refuse in the ocean kills hundreds of thousands of birds and marine mammals per year, and hazardous heavy metals bind to plastic particles and enter our food chain. The Ocean Trash Write-Away contest challenges writers to imagine solutions to this global challenge and write an inspiring short story set in a future where we’ve turned the tide on ocean trash.

A lot of ink and electrons have been spilled on the task of getting our machines to pass the Turing test. It is indeed an accomplishment of some proportion if a computer’s linguistic or artistic output can pass for human-generated. But does a passing grade really mean genuine awareness?

Corey S. Pressman

Published as part of a series of short stories and essays over at Medium.com’s magazine Matter on climate change, climate fiction, and how to survive the future. Check out the

A short documentary by Nathan Broderick about experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats, the Millennium Camera, installed at the ASU Art Museum, and the Deep Time Photo Lab, an interactive exhibit that debuted at ASU’s Emerge festival in March 2015.

While Hollywood blockbusters thrill us with breathtaking escapist spectacles, short films present diverse and idiosyncratic stories across the spectrum of genres, from fantasy and science fiction to riotous comedy and

On June 9, 2015, CSI director and Project Hieroglyph co-editor Ed Finn visited the Eight, Arizona PBS show Arizona Horizon to discuss Project Hieroglyph, science fiction, optimism for the future, and the trade paperback edition of Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future.

An interview with Neal Stephenson about his new novel, Seveneves, humanity’s resilience, and more.

Together with ASU’s Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives, we’re highlighting the sustainability solutions you can use every day to reduce your impact on the environment, support a just economy, and foster a healthy society. If you have an idea, action, product, or other sustainability solution, share it on social media using #SolutionADay. See what others are doing: sustainabilitysolutions.asu.edu/solution-a-day

In November 2014, award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited Arizona State University as part of the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative. In this interview, she discusses topics ranging from climate change and storytelling to the nature of hope and how she conducts scientific research for her books.

The Center for Science and the Imagination seeks a talented professional to assist with operational and budgetary aspects of the center, promoting its mission through creative thinking, problem solving, organizational mastery, and adaptability in the face of wide-ranging challenges.

In November 2014, award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited Arizona State University as part of the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative. In this interview, she discusses topics ranging from climate change and storytelling to the nature of hope and how she conducts scientific research for her books.

In November 2014, award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited Arizona State University as part of the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative. In this interview, she discusses topics ranging from climate change and storytelling to the nature of hope and how she conducts scientific research for her books.

In March 2015, Arizona State University’s Emerge presented eleven spellbinding “visitations from the future” – tangible, visceral experiences at the intersection of art and science. Learn more at emerge.asu.edu.

In November 2014, award-winning author Margaret Atwood visited Arizona State University as part of the Imagination and Climate Futures Initiative. In this interview, she discusses topics ranging from climate change and storytelling to the nature of hope and how she conducts scientific research for her books.

Our stuff is meaningful; it’s symbolically and semiotically imbued with signals of memory, utility, and identity.  These meanings are the fabric of culture – shared ideas and values that we

The wiry old man stood in the Martian cave, sipping his coffee. Yuri’s rock-embedded display stretched across the cavern. The print from his mug reflected off the panel’s glass, “NASA MVC: Class of 2049.” He moved closer to it and touched the incoming spaceship’s blinking icon.

A new project by experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats at Arizona State University involves creating simple, incredibly durable pinhole cameras that will slowly create a single image over the course of a century or a millennium.

A new cooperative venture at Arizona State University aims to make the university a key academic hub for the emerging discipline of biomimicry. Since Janine Benyus first observed and named the

Climate fiction, or “cli fi,” can be a dreary genre. Storytellers like to make a grim business of climate change, populating their narratives with a humorless onslaught of death, destruction, drowned monuments, and starving children. Margaret Atwood is the conspicuous exception, somehow managing to tackle the subject, including these familiar elements, with deadpan wit and an irreverent playfulness, making it both more interesting and believable. The flood is coming, her MaddAddam trilogy promises, but there is hope.

Want to change the future? Start with a great story. EVOKE is a massive multi-player online educational game that uses narrative to help players develop 21st century skills and drive collaborative innovation. EVOKE “agents” engage online and in the real world in social networks to complete missions that will change their community, their country and their future. EVOKE is a collaboration between the World Bank and Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination.

We are sentimental creatures. And by this I mean to say that we have the capacity to balance our emotions with our mental facility. From Wiktionary, we learn this about the word sentimental and its origins: “A vogue word mid-18c. with wide application, commonly a thought colored by or proceeding from emotion” (1762). The word sentimental suggests a balance: the human balance.

An interview with John Metz, an expert on harpsichord, piano, and Early Music, and an emeritus professor of music at Arizona State University. John is the composer of Anthony’s Cosmic Adventures, a choral piece based on The Space Child’s Mother Goose, a collection of whimsical space poems written in the 1950s by Frederick Winsor.

Technologists and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer aficionados Astrid Atkinson and Bridget Kromhout answer CSI’s 5 Burning Questions at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Dawn Gilpin, associate professor of public relations and social media at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, answers CSI’s 5 Burning Questions.

Event Date: October 8, 2014 Location: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, ASU Episode: “Intervention” (Season 5) Speakers: Bridget Kromhout, tech operations engineer; Astrid Atkinson, senior engineering manager, Google; Dawn Gilpin, associate professor of public relations and social media, ASU; Nina Miller, design strategist, Center for Science and the Imagination

Event Date: September 30, 2014 Location: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts Episode: “Cane and Able” (Season 3) Speakers: Dr. Cathy Seiler, scientific liaison at ASU’s Biodesign Institute; Dr. Kenneth S. Ramos, associate vice president of precision health services and professor of medicine at the Arizona Health Sciences Center of the University of Arizona; Joey Eschrich, editor and program manager, Center for Science and the Imagination

Sponsored by ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination and the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts Call for papers: submissions due by January 15, 2015 to stagethefuture@gmail.com –

This piece is written by Luu Nguyen, and was originally published at ASU News. One of CSI’s major upcoming projects is the Frankenstein Bicentennial Project, which will organize a broad range

Launch event for Project Hieroglyph’s first anthology, Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future (HarperCollins, 2014) at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, AZ on October 22, 2014.

CSI Imaginary College member G. Pascal Zachary wrote an article in the Spring 2014 issue of The New Atlantis: A Journal of Technology and Society remembering the late, great Thomas P. Hughes,

On September 10, 2014, Project Hieroglyph visited Google in Mountain View, California for an event as part of their Talks at Google series.

On October 26, Hieroglyph contributors Cory Doctorow and Neal Stephenson and CSI director Ed Finn appeared at Town Hall Seattle, in an event titled “Reigniting Society’s Ambition with Science Fiction.”

What happened At this Science Fiction TV Dinner event on September 30 at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, we screened “Cane and Able,” of the hit medical drama

Slate magazine’s Future Tense channel is running a series of stories inspired by and excerpted from Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future, exploring about the connections between science fiction storytelling, scientific discovery, public policy,

One of the projects we’re working on at the Center for Science and the Imagination is an effort to trace the lines of communication between science and science fiction. We

“Who wants to live forever?” The late, great lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury, crooned. “Well, I wouldn’t mind the option.” I responded flatly, the guy parking his car at

On April 25, 2014, Ed Finn spoke at the 2014 Congress on the Future of Engineering Software, in Scottsdale, Arizona, about the Center about thinking big, science, technology and the power of narratives to shape the future.

A conversation about the Romantic Era and the scientific imagination with Richard Sha, professor in the Department of Literature at American University, Mark Lussier, professor and chair of the Department of English at ASU, and Ed Finn, director of the Center for Science and the Imagination.

A panel discussion at Stanford University on May 13, 2014 on the Future of Reading, featuring Ed Finn, Eileen Gunn, David Rothenberg, Mark Algee-Hewitt, and Dan Gillmor.

On May 14, 2014, Intel futurist Brian David Johnson took to Google Hangouts to announce the winners of The Future – Powered by Fiction, a competition that challenged young people worldwide

Fish Out of Water investigates what new ideas and challenges would surface if experts in particular fields were challenged to think deeply about topics outside of their areas of expertise, and to engage in activities outside of their comfort zones.

A young heroine must fight not only her nemesis, but the doubts from the very city she tries to save.

This article originally appeared on ASU News Ed Finn, director of ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination, and an assistant professor in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering and

In this episode, we talk with interspecies jazz musician and philosopher David Rothenberg. David appeared at Arizona State University’s Emerge: Carnival of the Future on March 7, 2014 to perform alongside flying quadcopters and the band There Is Danger. Click here to watch a clip of the performance, titled “Drone Confidential,” and visit Slate’s Future Tense channel to read an article about the process of creating the performance. Check out this transcript of the interview, or watch the video below! https://vimeo.com/91355576

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with CSI Imaginary College Fellow Daniel Fine, the Principal Investigator for the Wonder Dome project.

In his 1984 film The Terminator and its sequels, James Cameron imagines a dystopic future in which armies of intelligent robots move with startling suddenness from positions of servility to utter and violent dominance, destroying civilization and driving humankind to the brink of extinction.

This, of course, is pure science fiction. There’s little reason to believe things will unfold that way. First, they would take all our jobs and wreck our economy.

This is the nightmare narrative of our future with robots and artificial intelligence. The utopian version of this tale—one accepted by many powerful people in industry and government—involves a …read more

In this episode, we talk with Doug Wolens, a documentary filmmaker best known for his films The Singularity and Butterfly.

A voice cries out in the desert:

“Know thyself, not thy selfies!”

“Digital media will not save you!”

“The zero is not whole and the one is not The One!”

Technically, we’re not in the desert—we’re in a dusty parking lot in downtown Phoenix. And the voice is not coming from the Prophet Isaiah, but from professor Ron Broglio, whom I’ve ordained as a Minister of the Digital Tabernacle. As people wander into the massive circus tent at Arizona State University’s Emerge: Carnival of the Future, they are greeted by a pair of shifty evangelists preaching the analog Word. (Disclosure: …read more

The good thing about performing music with drones is that they always show up for rehearsal on time. The bad thing is that they might suddenly drop out of the air and onto your head.

I learned all this while putting together a piece called “Drone Confidential” for Arizona State University’s Emerge, a “Carnival of the Future” that was held in Phoenix recently. Emerge is an annual circus of cool new technologies in performance, dedicated to showing how artists and machines can work together to create something awesome. …read more

Wonder Dome, a new experiment in performance platforms directed by CSI’s Imaginary College Fellow Daniel Fine, will be premiering at Mesa Arts Center in the show “Oh, No! Not That Story!”

I recently read about the launches of both an “ultrasecure” mobile phone for protecting privacy and a clip-on camera that takes a picture of everything you do at 30-second intervals. Our cultural relationship with data is more complicated and contradictory than it has ever been, and our debates on the subject almost always center on privacy. But privacy, the notion that only you should be able to control information about yourself, cloaks a deeper tension between information and meaning, between databases and insights.

Our friend Thad Trubakoff, an MFA student in Woodworking at ASU and a contributor to our recent Cautions, Dreams and Curiosities anthology, just let us know about a cool new project, which he calls “Gyroscopic Mandala.” Check out the demo video and read Thad’s guest post about the project below. To learn more about ASU and Mandalas, which have been popping up around here a lot recently, visit our Emerge 2014: The Carnival of the Future website: http://emerge.asu.edu.

Humans tell stories; how we tell them changes.  Wonder Dome is a touring performance platform that brings traditional storytelling into the 21st century by inviting audiences of all ages into

Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the epic Mars Trilogy, is known for applying scientific thinking to politics in his fictional worlds. Robinson’s stories are often centered around political struggles and governmental structures that allow the reader to question their unexamined beliefs about capitalism and democracy. Writing for The New Yorker, essayist and cartoonist Tim Kreider argues convincingly that Robinson is one of the greatest political novelists of our time.

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with Ed Finn, director of the Center for Science and the Imagination and assistant professor in ASU’s School of Arts, Media and Engineering and Department of English, about science fiction, narrative, the humanities and the future.

This blog post is the third and final entry in a series on utopian thinking. Read Part I and Part II of the series before you start this one! There

This blog post is the second entry in a series on utopian thinking. Read Part I of the series now, and once you’re finished here, don’t miss Part III. To

CSI Imaginary College member G. Pascal Zachary takes just 330 seconds to argue that journalism cannot survive in the digital age as a for-profit industry, and to propose a solution.

Some of our favorite science fiction (like Kim Stanley Robinson’s epic Mars Trilogy) involves terraforming distant Earth-like planets in the hope of generating functional ecosystems and sustaining human life. But

This is a guest post from Stacy Jannis, on behalf of the USA Science & Engineering Festival. Are you looking for a creative learning activity that helps spark your middle

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with Kathryn Cramer, the co-editor of Project Hieroglyph and a member of CSI’s Imaginary College.

Growing up is hard enough. Being a young child with autism is even more difficult. For those who have become frustrated with traditional treatments, there is hope. Social robots are

This is a guest post from Carolyn Forbes, Assistant Director of ASU’s Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, which promotes interdisciplinary research and education on the dynamics of

Professor D. Harrell of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is an artist, scientist, and computer programmer rolled into one. Through the Imagination, Computation, and Expression Laboratory, Harrell has dedicated his

On Friday, December 6 2013, ASU’s School of Arts, Media and Engineering hosted the Digital Culture Showcase. The event featured unique and interactive projects created by students in the Digital

Three sisters—Altostratus, Cumulus, and Cirrus—rule the sky, each in their own domain. However, when the girls start intruding on each other’s territories, the sky is off balance and it is the land below that must pay the price.

You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. Fortunately, embryo cloning may help us to learn from our mistakes. Scientists are hoping to bring back (or should we say

“The Science of Silk,” created by ASU students Cody Frear, Nicholas Jakob, Grayson Stanton and Janett Salas, profiles the work of Jeff Yarger, director of ASU’s Magnetic Resonance Research Center. Yarger’s team is working to develop synthetic spider silk, which could be used to create all kinds of amazing things, from bulletproof vests to artificial tendons.

ASU’s Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes (CSPO), a close collaborator with CSI, has just released the first two anthologies in its new series, The Rightful Place of Science. The

ASU’s School of Arts, Media and Engineering will be hosting its Digital Culture Showcase on December 6, 2013 in Stauffer Hall, B-Wing on the ASU Tempe campus. During this event,

Our friends at Changing Hands Bookstore are planning to open a second location (complete with a book-themed bar called First Draft, naturally) in Downtown Phoenix, and they need your help!

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with David Quammen, the author of Spillover. David visited Arizona State University in November 2013, to discuss Spillover, Animal Infections and the Threat of Pandemic.

David Quammen’s Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic (W.W. Norton, 2012) is an eloquent book, weaving a compelling, scientifically-grounded narrative about the potential for emergent global pandemics. I

The notion of 3D printing has fired up our collective imagination worldwide. The ambitious folks over at MakerBot know this. That’s why they’re poised to enmesh 3D printing into the

This blog post is the first entry in a series on utopian thinking. Read Part II of the series, and stay tuned for Part III, coming soon! The idea of

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with Nathan Shedroff, designer and chairman of the MBA program in Design Strategy at California College of the Arts. Nathan visited Arizona State University in October 2013 to discuss his book Make It So: Interaction Design Lessons from Sci-Fi and the relationship between science fiction, interfaces and the future of design.

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with science fiction author, futurist, and scientist David Brin. Brin recently visited Arizona State University to discuss his newest novel, Existence, which discusses the future of humanity.

The Man from Earth (Dir. Richard Schenkman, 2007) explores the idea of a 14,000-year-old “cave man” living throughout history until today. The plot centers on John Oldman (ahem), a university

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we interview young adult fiction author Tom Leveen, whose most recent novel “SICK” was launched at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus on October 1st, 2013.

IDEO San Francisco, October 24, 2013. Speakers: Julian Bleecker and Nick Foster of Near Future Laboratory, Cliff Kuang, senior editor at WIRED, and James Bridle, a writer, artist, publisher and technologist

Consumer technology does its best to make sure that products can be customized according to the taste of the user. But let’s be real for a moment. That brand new

This weekend ASU’s School of Film, Dance and Theatre and School of Earth and Space Exploration present A Brief Anniversary of Time, a one-man show celebrating the 25th anniversary of

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with legendary science fiction author, design critic, editor and journalist Bruce Sterling. Bruce recorded this interview with us during his tenure as CSI’s inaugural Visionary in Residence. Among many other things, Bruce blogs for Wired.com and is the de facto spiritual leader for ASU’s Emerge since its inception in 2012.

The human species is hardwired for survival. What’s paramount is having a shot at existence beyond the confines of our dissipating home world. It makes little sense for us to

This is a guest post from young adult author and ASU student Tom Leveen. Tom will be launching his new novel, Sick, at ASU’s Tempe campus on October 1. To

Young adult author Tom Leveen talks about his upcoming novel SICK, his first ever science fiction novel, in which high school misfits must fend off a zombie apocalypse in the school theater. Leveen also discusses the book’s launch, which will take place on ASU’s Old Main building on the Tempe campus on October 1st, 2013 at 1:45PM. The event will feature lectures from ASU scholars, book signings, and a zombie romp.

Michael Trcic, lead special effects artist for the T. Rex for Jurassic Park, discusses his adventures with creating the life-size creature.

More and more, however, respect for video games has been growing. As the average gamer ages, awareness of the potential for games to enhance cognitive functions and even improve the world has similarly developed. But acknowledgement of their potent artistic power has been somewhat more elusive. And so it was with great exultation that your author received news of The Art of Video Games exhibition opening at the Phoenix Art Museum. Finally, the time had come to put away childish things and embrace video games in all their glory.

Our director Ed Finn is the latest thought leader to be featured on The Conversation, a podcast series that “explores visions of the future and questions of the good” through a series of long, unstructured conversations with thinkers and doers of all stripes.

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with Zach Berkson, a class 0f 2013 ASU graduate, doctoral student in chemical engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara and founding president of CSI’s affiliated student organization, The Imagination Project.

You wouldn’t think so at first, but some rules for writing fiction apply perfectly to reality. It does make sense considering that most forms of fiction try their best to

Elysium isn’t as strong of a social commentary as director Neill Blomkamp’s last science fiction venture, District 9, but it still has something to teach us, in a heavy-handed sort

Have you ever wondered what people in the past thought the future would be like? What kinds of inventions they thought would revolutionize the way we live? When I look

We talk with Tracey Grose, Vice President of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute.

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with curator, photographer and poet Juan José Diaz Infante, mission director for the Mexican Space Collective. Learn more about the Mexican

There is no denying that James Cameron created a fantastic world in his award-winning film Avatar. With magnificent animals, blinding colors and bioluminescent tree spirits, it is hard to believe

When designing the world’s tallest skyscrapers, there are important factors that absolutely must be considered. What materials are needed to keep a 200-story building from collapsing? Can balconies and gardens

From the load lifter in Aliens to the Human Universal Load Carrier in Elysium, robotic super-suits have a serious fan base in science fiction culture. And what’s not to love?

This summer and fall, we are teaming up with Intel’s Tomorrow Project and the Society for Science & the Public to present The Future – Powered by Fiction, a competition

This is a guest post from ASU professor of English Laura Tohe, writing about the July 3, 2013 unveiling of Star Wars: A New Hope dubbed into the Navajo language,

Mary Shelley, the world’s first science fiction author. Portrait by Richard Rothwell, 1840. Yesterday one of our spectacular student researchers, Zac Heth, alerted us to this great blog post by

In this episode of 5 Burning Questions, we talk with Boyd Branch.

Admit it. At some point in your life, you’ve wished you had a device that would dispense freshly made food at the press of a button. Though this seems like

XSEAD, headquartered in ASU’s School of Arts, Media and Engineering, is a new digital platform for sharing collaborative projects across science, engineering, arts and design. The project aims to build

Ed Finn, Digital Humanities Quarterly, Volume 7, Number 1 (2013) Full text: http://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/7/1/000148/000148.html In this article, CSI director Ed Finn considers the complicated cultural coding of author and MIT creative

On Saturday, July 13, the CyberSenses group opened a display at ASU’s Digital Culture Gallery as part of the ASU Art Museum’s Family Fun Day. CyberSenses, an initiative of the

Our world is filled with heroes. Without the aid of superpowers, firefighters and police officers do everything they can to keep us safe on a daily basis. But what do

Corey S. Pressman

This is a guest post from LabDreams, an ASU student venture currently seeking crowdfunding through Kickstarter. To learn more about LabDreams and contribute to their project, visit their Kickstarter page.

This is the third and final installment of the “Information as Infection” series. Check out Part I and Part II to get the whole story! The concept is compelling –

While watching your favorite sci-fi flick, you notice the cyborg hero using his robotic eye to zoom in on the scene and track the villain. You think to yourself, “How

If you missed Part I of the “Information as Infection” series, check it out here. At the heart of the debate about the legitimacy of memetics as a science lies the

Jim Bell, professor at ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration and president of The Planetary Society, recently joined Simon Constable at The Wall Street Journal Live to discuss the

Last month I braved the stormy waters of the internet to teach a guest lesson at Duke University’s Futures Institute: Shaping Tomorrow Now, a summer experience for high school students

Science fiction films and books often feature prototypes of future technology, and in many cases these predictions have proved to spot-on. One of my favorite Ray Bradbury novels, Fahrenheit 451

Caution: if you are reading this, there’s a good chance you’re going to be infected. Each sentence, like a coded strand of nucleotides, adds to the structure of thought-DNA that

Raji Ganesan sporting CSI’s official lab coat at Intel ISEF 2013 Intel’s International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) was held in our very own Phoenix Convention Center this year! ISEF

Last October, the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation dumped an estimated one hundred tonnes of iron sulphate into international waters off the coast of British Columbia. The stated goal of the

This post originally appeared in The Huffington Post as part of their TEDWeekends series. The post is a response to Theo Jansen’s TED talk, “My creations, a new form of

Just like any form of storytelling, science fiction has conventions that everyone immediately recognizes. They’re the kinds of tropes that have been around so long, they’re ingrained in our minds.

Friends! Students! Creators! Consider this your invitation to join the ASU Imagination Project (the CSI student group). I’m here to provide some updates on what we’ve been working on during

Annotated Dwarf Fortress map, courtesy of roBurky on Flickr.Used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license. Dwarf Fortress might be the greatest game in existence. I don’t mean to say that it

During Emerge 2013: The Future of Truth this spring, CSI Visionary in Residence Bruce Sterling was hard at work with a team of collaborators at Arizona State University testing the limits of our rapid prototyping and fabrication facilities. The result of this whirlwind of creativity is an original exhibit of 21st century Petroglifs carved into native Arizona rock with laser cutters.

Image courtesy of CaZaTo Ma, used under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license. So…not one of our cyborgs. Is technology changing what it means to be human? Once the notion of a

This week the Center for Science and the Imagination hosted a small exhibition at Intel ISEF, a global science and engineering student competition. ASU’s Digital Culture program provided the centerpiece

China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing The global profile of Chinese science fiction is on the rise: Liu Cixin’s trilogy Three-Body is a surprise hit among Chinese audiences, and this month’s issue

Somewhere in London, a plucky group of engineer-restaurateurs are trying to trick you into eating bugs. The shadowy insect advocates behind Ento have vowed to make insects a staple of

In 2013, with blockbuster titles like After Earth, Elysium and Oblivion, Hollywood science fiction has become enamored with the concept of humans abandoning Earth. What can we learn from this

CSI is looking for two student researchers to join our team for the summer, so check out the project descriptions below and bask in the warm glow of intellectual curiosity!

Seth Herron is a graduate student at ASU studying sustainability and sustainable engineering, and a member of the Center for Science and the Imagination family. Seth is currently working with

By Sarah Rothbard This post originally appeared on Zócalo Public Square. Zócalo Public Square is a partnership of the New America Foundation and Arizona State University; Future Tense is a

We’ve all seen them; the movies that predict what it will be like when global warming takes over the planet and wreaks havoc on Earth. In The Day After Tomorrow,

By Torie Bosch Science panels don’t normally involve a striptease, even a G-rated one. But on Saturday, March 30, Neil deGrasse Tyson took off his shirt to prove a point

There is a current shift in education and a new direction that universities are taking to prepare students for a post-digital revolution world. In a technologically bound and dependent culture,

New technologies are making it easier to communicate with loved ones who do not live very close. After years of birthdays, Christmas, and Weed Appreciation Day (come on, don’t act

Each year at SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX, science fiction author, design critic and CSI Visionary in Residence Bruce Sterling delivers an epic state-of-the-planet rant, challenging the tech industry and

CSI and our partners are lighting up Tempe with a cavalcade of exciting science fictional events over the next couple of weeks! We hope you can join the festivities: Science

On March 7 the Center for Science and the Imagination and ASU’s School of Arts, Media and Engineering hosted filmmaker and photographer Ilana Rein. In this talk, Ilana presents a

At this point in time, Jacques de Vaucanson is basically a household name, synonymous with innovation in the year 1738. Right? Anybody? Alright, so maybe I overestimated the importance of

Science fiction luminary and activist Cory Doctorow had many moments of brilliance during his visit to the Cronkite School last month (catch a video of the event here!). During his discussion

CSI Visionary in Residence and Emerge provocateur Bruce Sterling delivered the closing remarks at the SXSW Interactive festival in Austin, TX last night, and we were proud to see him sporting his

By Adam Sneed Cyborgs have arrived on Earth, but there’s no reason to worry. They’re nothing like the cold machine-men from The Terminator. Cybernetic technologies that integrate with the human

So, it turns out, crabs can probably feel pain. And not just nociception, which can be just the mechanical reaction to a noxious stimulus – like when you pull your

We are already two months into the year 2013, but I think reflections on the past year are still beneficial. 2012 was a surprisingly big year for space exploration, and

This month CSI welcomes science fiction legend Bruce Sterling, our inaugural Visionary in Residence. Bruce is currently hard at work with collaborators from ASU’s Design School, using digitally-controlled laser cutters to inscribe futuristic petroglyphs on native Arizona desert rock.

Twitter Verses We hear you. We see you. Tell us your story. On Feb. 28 – March 2, you will be part of a larger story. Emerge 2013 Tweet us a fragment of a story. The story must be true. Send as many fragments as you can. Tweet these at #emergeTV

The Center for Science and the Imagination is partnering with Solve for X, a new forum to encourage and amplify technology-based moonshot thinking and teamwork. Solve for X launched a

Last summer, in stretch of humid boredom, I walked 6 blocks to see Ridley Scott’s Prometheus at the cinema by my family’s house. I asked my friends, who are sci-fi

Robert Krulwich, NPR Science Friday correspondent and RadioLab contributor, recently shared a blog post about the phenomenon of ice crystals forming in the shape of flowers in the arctic waters.

In our fast-paced world filled with meals-on-the-go via fast food chains and restaurants touting the “get in and get out” method of food preparation, cooking has taken the turn of

How do we bridge the gap between science, the imagination and policy-making to take great ideas to impact and build towards a more stable and productive future? The 21st century certainly

Faced with global and local catastrophe in the form of widespread climate change, the coming century will be defined, of necessity, by a transition away from a fossil-fuel based economy.

My wife and I attended a Christmas Eve service in an Episcopalian Church. We’re not religious, but we grew up steeped in various religious traditions and nostalgically love to hear

Sometimes we get the urge to reach into a screen and grab whatever object is on the “other side.” This is just one of the many things you can do

By Ed Finn It’s 2013, people—we are living in the future. Since the news is still awash with problems we created for ourselves decades or centuries ago (the permanent fiscal crisis, gun control, the political powder-keg that is the Middle East), it may have escaped your notice that today is also National Science Fiction Day.

Attention prospective Arizona State University graduate students! ASU’s Center for Science and the Imagination and Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes are seeking a Graduate Research Assistant as part of

Newly released: American Dreamers, a collection of “dreams from optimists, inventors and mavericks with ideas for a brighter future.” My essay (online here) leads off the book with a look at the combustible, illuminating nature of good ideas and the unique optimism of the American Dream. It’s also a pretty good declaration of principles for what we are trying to accomplish at the Center for Science and the Imagination.

One of our Hieroglyph collaborations.

Ron Broglio, Associate Professor of English at Arizona State University, discusses how philosophy, aesthetics and literature can help us rethink the relationship between humans and the environment.