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Welcome once again to our “Friday’s Food for Thought” post hosted exclusively on got geoint? We hope everyone had a productive week and were able to get a jump start on holiday shopping during the better-than-expected Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping sprees. For this week’s FFT post, we are tackling the theme of how science fiction has influenced real scientific breakthroughs. Science fiction movies, books and television shows are often ahead of their times (i.e., Jules Verne, pictured) and play a major role in the development of some of our most significant scientific achievements. Art influences real life. How cool is that? Hope you enjoy and happy Friday!

Top Ten Star Trek Techs Made Real
Star Trek, the most popular science fiction show (and movie franchise) has had a profound influence on the development of science and technology. So, much so, that Space.com has actually dedicated a web page to chronicling this influence. Some of these influences include cell phones, portable medical and GPS technology. That is correct. Star Trek used GEOINT technologies to zero in on the exact location of crew members thousands of miles away.

1970s Book “The Shockwave Rider” Uses Many of Today’s IT Security Terms
Many of the terms we use in IT security come from The Shockwave Rider, a book by 1970s British science fiction writer John Brunner. One of a series of novels covering themes he felt were affecting civilization – from a violent society to over population and pollution – it depicts a networked society where a man on the run uses a ‘worm program’ to rewrite his identity and hide from a nefarious government organzsation. Brunner’s book quickly became popular with the nascent IT industry, and the terms he invented became part of the vernacular. You can purchase the book here.

Jules Verne’s Influence On The “Space Gun” — Although It Did Not Work
In Jules Verne’s 1865 novel “From the Earth to the Moon,” he described a moon gun that actually shot projectiles from earth to the surface of the moon. Very creative concept and if it actually worked it would significantly reduce the cost, effort and fuel needed for an actual payload. The story is also notable in that Verne attempted to do some rough calculations as to the requirements for the cannon and, considering the total lack of any data on the subject at the time, some of his figures are surprisingly close to reality. However, his scenario turned out to be impractical for safe manned space travel since a much longer muzzle would have been required to reach escape velocity while limiting acceleration to survivable limits for the passengers. However, this did not stop Gerald Bull of the Canadian Armament and Research Development Establishment to begin a life-long struggle to use guns for cheap access to space.

The Sci-Fi Effect on Today’s High Tech
CNET recently compiled this story about 10 science fiction novels that influenced everything from robots, computer touch screens and “Second Life.” The post offers this enlightening quote from Ben Cerveny, an original Flickr team member: “Science fiction has transformed modern culture on multiple occasions. Exploration and innovation are often driven by pop-cultural imagination. Jules Verne’s works on fantastic voyages gave people a conceptual framework for the first air flights and even for the ‘voyage’ of motion pictures themselves. Remember, some of the very first big screen hits were Méliès’ turn-of-the-century films A Trip to the Moon and Impossible Voyage. Heinlein; (Gene) Roddenberry and everyone’s favorite cult overlord, L. Ron Hubbard, were all buddies with the nerds busily inventing space flight and defense technologies at JPL, Hughes and Rocketdyne, among others. LA was a hotbed of space/military/sci-fi cultural overlap in the ’50s. Who would fund interstellar spaceflight projects if it weren’t for the promise of buxom, blue babes awaiting the travelers?”

Rush 2112: Science Fiction Brought to Life Through Rock ‘n Roll
Let’s not forget that science fiction has had an influence on rock music. This is ever so clear in Rush’s classic nerds-delight “2112.” It is a 20 minute operetta about a young man struggling against the Iron Rule of the Solar Federation and the social controls of the Priests of Syrinx. Did you get that? Check out this live clip of the band playing “Overture/Temples Of Syrinx” in 1988.

Happy Friday!

Tags: GEOINT, geospatial, GIS, got geoint?, GPS, Jules Verne, Rush, Rush 2112, Science, Science Fiction, Star Trek, USGIF