Author Archives: jrenstro

A Very, Very, Very Fine House

Posted on February 8, 2013 by jrenstro

Ray Bradbury’s lovely, human-less chapter of the Martian Chronicles, “There Will Come Soft Rains”, features an automated house that cooks meals for its inhabitants, issues gentle reminders of when to wake up and go to sleep, draws baths, washes dishes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged "There Will Come Soft Rains", actuators, app, automated house, cloud, communication, control, downton abbey, house, Martian Chronicles, mini-computer, motion detector, motion sensor, nanny cam, ninja, Ninja Blocks, Open hardware, Open Source, programming, Raspberry Pi, Ray Bradbury, remote control, robot house, robots, Sara Teasdale, sensors, temperature sensor, twitter, Wally Wood, wireless | Comments Off

The Baby with the Biggest Head Wins

Posted on January 22, 2013 by jrenstro

Sometimes science fiction looks backward instead of forward—some time travel stories, such as Ray Bradbury’s “A Sound of Thunder,” propel readers not into space, but back in time, so that characters can carouse with dinosaurs. Or, y’know, try to shoot … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged breeding, caveman, cloning, de-extinct, Der Spiegel, dinosaurs, diversity, extinct, genes, genetics, george church, harvard, hominid, homo sapien, human genome project, Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton, monoculture, neanderthal, Neanderthal Parallax, Robert Sawyer, science fiction, Sound of Thunder, woolly mammoth | Comments Off

Should This Happen?

Posted on January 13, 2013 by jrenstro

In Stephen King’s novel (and movie) Thinner, a vengeful gypsy curses an overweight and corrupt lawyer, causing him to drop pounds as though they were steaming hot potatoes. Sounds a lot better and easier than jump-roping one’s way to slimness, … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged abdomen, Asimov, aspirate, aspire, AspireAssist, bariatric, battlestar galactica, BSG, bulimia, calories, diet, digest, eat, eating, exercise, gastric bypass, gastric restriction, George R.R. Martin, intestine, lee adama, obesity, overeating, port, pounds, stephen king, stomach, thinner, tube, weight loss | Comments Off

(And I Feel Fine)

Posted on December 20, 2012 by jrenstro

Mayan hieroglyphics aren’t science fiction–though one could argue that as a basis of myths and legends, hieroglyphics are proto-proto-science fiction–but some people and some genres of literature, including sci-fi (remember that film 2012? Neither do I.), have embraced them in … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged 12/21/2012, 2012, apocalypse, axial procession, baktun, dec 21, end of days, end of the world, hieroglyphics, isaac newton, magnetic poles, mayan calendar, myths, NASA, nibiru, Nuburi, planetary alignment, procession of the equinoxes, rapture, rumors, sumerians, winter solstice | Comments Off

More Than Meets the Eye

Posted on December 12, 2012 by jrenstro

I’ll admit to one thing up front: I’ve seen all the Transformers movies. I still think the first one was the best one, but I’d watch five more, too, if they make them. Until recently, I thought of those movies … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged Asimo, Cathedral of Dreams, Kenji Ishida, optimus prime, quasi-static locomotion, revision 7, robot, terry persun, transformers, zero moment point | 2 Comments

Well, You Know, I Work Out

Posted on November 25, 2012 by jrenstro

Ever wonder how superheroes get such absurd muscles? I mean, when’s the last time you ever saw one in a gym? Sure, Superman developed his biceps by hauling car around and Clark Kent is likely built under the bland and … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged 2045, acidity, artificial muscle, Batman, carbon, carbon nanotubes, futurist, gym, Hulk, hydrogen ion, ligand, macrocycle, molecular machine, molecule, muscle, nanotechnology, nanotube, pH, Roxtane, Spiderman, superhero, Superman, Wonder Woman, working out | Comments Off

Lots and lots and lots of pinwheels

Posted on October 30, 2012 by jrenstro

A common misconception of Frankenstein (second to the mistaken belief that Frankenstein is the monster’s name) is that lightning somehow brings Victor’s creature to life. The 1931 movie starring Boris Karloff made the lightning-animation “It’s alive!” scene famous, though in … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Comments Off

These Are Not the Droids You Want

Posted on October 22, 2012 by jrenstro

Who hasn’t tried to play a Jedi mind trick? After all, if whiny, sniveling Luke can control minds, there’s no reason the rest of us can’t learn. Could This Happen has explored the possibility of neural prosthetics, brain implants, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged 1984, behavior, brain, brains, brave new world, clockwork orange, conditioning, genetic engineering, harvard, huxley, invasion of the body snatchers, jedi mind trick, laser, lasers, light, manchurian candidate, mind control, nervous system, neural circuits, neurons, neuroscience, newspeak, orwell, pavlov, robocop, sensory procsesing, worms | Comments Off

I Do Jet Packs

Posted on September 22, 2012 by jrenstro

A bit of history: the very first post on Could This Happen was about jet packs. It seemed like the right place to start, given the prevalence of jet packs in science fiction and the implicit (and explicit) promise that … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged gofast, jet pack, jetlev, jetsons, marriage, national space center, nick macombe, olympic, propulsion, raymond li, relay, torch, water powered, weddings | 1 Comment

Not Over the Moon

Posted on September 10, 2012 by jrenstro

In 1902, Georges Melies wrote and produced the first science fiction film, Le Voyage dans la Lune (The Voyage to the Moon). This 14-minute silent film inspired by the stories of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells involves a group of … Continue reading →

Posted in Could this Happen? | Tagged 3-d printing, Asimov, Behrokh Khoshnevis, burritobot, clarke, construction, contour crafting, crane, heinlein, Innovative Advanced Concepts, layering, lunar settlement, melies, moon colony, moon settlement, mooninite, NASA, university of southern california, usca, verne, voyage to the moon, wells | 2 Comments