Stanislaw Lem

'Smart Dust' Could Become A Reality

May 04, 2010
'Au fait Dust' Could Become A Reality

Posted on: Tuesday, 4 May 2010, 06:10 CDT

When you think of ‘smart dust‘, you might make up of common house dust that perhaps grew a brain, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

Researcher Kristofer S. J. Pister dreamed up a futuristic shade in the 1990s that revolved around tiny sensors, no bigger than a grain of rice, that could be sprinkled around like dust or sand, and could examine everything.

“Smart dust” particles, as Pister calls them, would act like electronic nerve endings for the planet. They would be tailored with computing power, sensing equipment, and wireless radios. The smart dust would make observations of the adjoining area and relay real-time data to a central computer.

Pister’s dream is now starting to become reality -- in a purport.

“It's exciting. It's been a long time coming,” Pister, a computer professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told CNN Talk. “I coined the phrase 14 years ago. So smart dust has taken a while, but it's finally here,” he added.

Source: RedOrbit

Stanislaw LEM - interview!

Our movie - interview with Stanislaw Lem - we took during Festival of science in Wroclaw/Poland [all rights reserved] http://www.eu.cyberd usk.pl ...

Tuesday Reading Roundup: Sci-fi plus Theology Edition


1. Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger–Just as the sticker for some reason stuck onto the dustjacket says, Ratzinger is indeed now better known as Pope Benedict XVI.  This “little book”, as he repeatedly refers to it, is pretty wonderful.  Brief and deep.  It is totally ridiculous how much history and theology this man knows.  I don’t know if that makes you a good pope, but it can’t hurt.

2. Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem–You might not know that you know this author if you know the Soderbergh remake (with George Clooney’s naked butt) of Solaris, based on the Stanislaw Lem novel (and originally and more memorably motationally pictured, aside from George Clooney’s naked butt, by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972).  According to Wikipedia, Memoirs and Solaris were two of four novels which Lem published in 1961.  That is ridiculous, although perhaps not for a sci-fi author.  Memoirs is likewise ridiculous.  Imagine a post-Nuclear War world, where America’s military complex survived by going deep underground.  There they formed a society in which there is nothing but bureaucracy.  Like 1984 on speed.  Or, more descriptively, Kafka meets Joseph Heller.  Unfortunately, while Lem is successfully absurd (a la Heller), disorienting (a la Kafka), and makes some strong political points (a la Orwell), the book is not as engaging as any of those more famous authors.  I will definitely check out another book by him, though.  Maybe Solaris this time.

3. dad says he saw you at the mall by Ken Sparling–Holly actually started reading this first, after randomly picking it up at ye olde Durham Public.  Then she thought I might like it.  Memoir-ish yet novel, fragmented, stream-of-consciousness.  The inside cover makes the plot more clear than you will find anywhere in the book’s pages.  But it’s also not really a ‘plot’ kind of novel.  I think I might have enjoyed it better had I known that from the beginning, rather than searching for a plot for most of the book.  Good, but not really worth seeking out unless something I’ve written about it sounds really interesting.

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Stanislaw Lem - Directory

Stanislaw Lem
Legitimate site for Stanislaw Lem provides biographical information, critical reviews, Lem's short stories, and galleries of covers. In English and Rub.

Stanislaw Lem
Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006) Swot up on satirical and philosophical science fiction writer, whose novel SOLARIS (1961) was filmed by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1971. ...

Wikipedia: Stanislaw Lem
Drug-created profile of Polish science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, whose works include the novel Solaris.

Stanislaw Lem
Litt: Solaris. Stanislaw Lem was a visionary Polish author known for Solaris (2002)... Visit IMDb for Photos, Filmography, Discussions, Bio, Tidings, ...

Solaris
The Pompous Site of Stanislaw Lem: biography, reviews, drawings, a gallery of covers and illustrations, essays, short stories, bibliography.