Short story Archives - Center for Science and the Imagination

Short story

A colorful, visually dense composition organized around a circle outlined in white. The circle may or may not resemble an eye, and its interior, as well as the space around it, are filled with colorful marks and patterns in shades of green, yellow, red, and purple.

Orchestra as Infrastructure

Orchestra as Infrastructure You are reading the HTML version of Sound Systems: The Future of the Orchestra. Visit the book’s home page to download it for free in other formats, including

Illustration of a circular planet, with visual motifs reminiscent of circuitry, and an eye, inside the circle. From the edge of the circle grow 9 trees of different shapes and colors. The trunk of each tree resembles a real or fictional musical instrument.

Orchestra as Network

Orchestra as Network You are reading the HTML version of Sound Systems: The Future of the Orchestra. Visit the book’s home page to download it for free in other formats, including

Illustration of a violin superimposed over a crowd of people. Around the edges of the violin, buildings sprout, like a skyline. From the crowd in the background, rainbow strands of light emanate, and form a heart that rings the violin.

Orchestra as Game

Orchestra as Game You are reading the HTML version of Sound Systems: The Future of the Orchestra. Visit the book’s home page to download it for free in other formats, including

An illustration combining sheet music with a layered set of horizontally layered natural scenes: a sky with clouds, trees, a ground layer with bugs and amphibians, and a water layer with fish.

Orchestra for Public Good

Orchestra for Public Good You are reading the HTML version of Sound Systems: The Future of the Orchestra. Visit the book’s home page to download it for free in other formats,

Sharp | Distance

Corey S. Pressman

Retail | Therapy

Corey S. Pressman

Illustration of a woman with long hair, pronounced eyebrows, and full lips, against a red background.

Future Tense Fiction: “Mika Model,” by Paolo Bacigalupi

“The girl, the robot … this thing—I’d seen her before, all right. I’d seen her in technology news stories about advanced learning node networks…”

Science Fiction Story: I Am Mars

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.