LabDreams: where science meets entertainment

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.

A massive crowd of people

Information as Infection, Part III: The Inoculation

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 –

A closeup of a contact lens

The Telescopic Lens: No Longer a Piece of Science Fiction

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

Information as Infection, Part II: A Parasite Called Culture?

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

Rosalyn Berne

ASU scholars use science fiction to explore the future of biotechnology

Author Rosalyn Berne Original science fiction stories from two Arizona State University scholars are being featured in To Recreate Life from Life: Biotechnology and Science Fiction (2014, Pan Stanford Press),

Space colonization, the deep future and weekends on the moon

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

CSI visits Duke’s Futures Institute

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

Bluetooth

Does Bluetooth have a future?

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

Countering Dystopian Science Fiction’s ‘Wet Blanket Effect’ on Innovation

Virus

Information as Infection, Part I: Going Viral

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

Annual Report 2012-13

Download the 2012-13 Annual Report

Raji Ganesan at Intel ISEF 2013

Intel ISEF 2013: Young scientists and the wonder of discovery

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

Geohacking

The First of the Geohackers

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

The Spark of Imagination

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

Is There a Difference Between Necessary and Unnecessary Bad Science?

Space Battle by blaster219

It’s time for some new science fiction conventions

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.

Imagination Project Graphic

ASU Imagination Project: Join us!

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

Losing is “FUN”

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

Bruce Sterling creates 21st century Petroglifs at CSI

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.