Delightful Discoveries - Oh the Possibilities 10.16.10

"Anything you dream is fiction, and anything you accomplish is science, the whole history of mankind is nothing but science fiction. "

Those words came from Ray Bradbury, a celebrated author who is probably best known for his collective works of Science Fiction including The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Fahrenheit 451. Along with other legendary masters of the genre like Jules Verne, HG Wells, Isaac Asimov, George Orwell, Arthur C. Clarke as well as relatively new authors like Michael Crichton and Douglas Adams, Bradbury's works have provided not only entertainment but critical food for thought to be digested by scientists, physicians, inventors and world leaders. Serving as inspiration for everything from submarines to the space station, genetic engineering to nanotechnology, these writers have kindled the fires driving the science fact of the future. (Ray Bradbury portrait print - Large by JBarnum)

Bradbury also said that "Science fiction is the most important literature in the history of the world, because it's the history of ideas, the history of our civilization birthing itself. ...Science fiction is central to everything we've ever done...", a viewpoint that I agree wholeheartedly with. Looking back just within my lifetime of 50+ years, so much of the technology that appeared in the classic science fiction I read as a child has become science fact.

Who can dispute that the regeneration of Mary Shelley's monster in her classic Frankenstein through the use of electricity doesn't bear a resemblance, albeit slightly less ghastly and primitive, to today's medical practices of cardiac resuscitation after cardiac transplantation - yet Miss Shelley's novel was written a full 150 years before medicine would successfully perform this procedure. (Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus - original watercolour painting by DinosDiedOfBoredom)

Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon was written in 1865. Mankind would not make that trip in reality for another 100 years, and succeed in doing so in a rocket that was eerily similar in size and launched from nearly the same location as Verne's book had depicted.

The movie Fantastic Voyage, (with a screenplay by Harry Kleiner and a novelization of the movie written by Isaac Asimov released six months before the movie's debut) dealt with the miniaturization of a team of doctors who then traveled through a human body to remove a deadly clot. Today, nearly 40 years later, medicine and science continue to work together to develop successful nanotechnology and robotic surgical procedures to deliver life saving treatments in much the same way.

These are just a few examples of science fiction becoming science fact. So are science fiction writers a bunch of crackpots as many "well balanced" and "practical" people believe? Or are they the visionaries who inspire creative minds to reach beyond known science and find answers in the unknown? I'd like to believe the latter. ( Crop Circles Silk Neckties by projector)

Needless to say, I LOVE Science Fiction, and I am always tickled to read about some new discovery or technique becoming reality, when I had read about it in a scifi story that was written decades ago. Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicist, author, and the host of SciFi Science on The Science Channel (and one of my favorite people to listen to!) summed up the sad reason why many people reject science fiction and its contribution to mankind in this statement - "I often think that we are like the carp swimming contentedly in that pond. We live out our lives in our own "pond," confident that our universe consists of only the familiar and the visible. We smugly refuse to admit that parallel universes or dimensions can exist next to ours, just beyond our grasp. If our scientists invent concepts like forces, it is only because they cannot visualize the invisible vibrations that fill the empty space around us. Some scientists sneer at the mention of higher dimensions because they cannot be conveniently measured in the laboratory." I agree... and I wonder to myself what the possibilities really are...

Whether you enjoy scifi for its campiness, its mystery, or like me - the possibilities it presents, I hope you'll appreciate my selections for today's feature! They represent some of my favorite stories, themes, and movies - and hopefully yours as well :)

(l-r, top to bottom)
Doctor Who My Other Car Is A Tardis Vinyl Decal Sci-fi Sticker by Robot1001001
Complete Star Trek Pillow Set by YellowBugBoutique
Luke Meerkat Skywalker Handmade in UK by niftyknits
Alien Abduction of Cow Earrings by masquefaire
Radiation 8x10 Print by DarkVirtue1974 **
Firefly - Complete Serenity crew peg people by RandomlyGenerated
Nautilus Captains Cabin Lamp by woskab
End of Man by EweniqueCreations
Banana Split Robot with Spacegirl and Persian Cat Signed Art Print by MisterReusch
Robotech Valkyrie Mens Tshirt by vortextradingcompany
The Seeker Robot Figure Wood Sculpture Statue by buildersstudio
Homage 1.0 by reaver
Space Station - Spray Paint art by SchulzArtist**
Tarot Atlantis - The Magician - FREE TILE HANGER by JolieFaireMedieval
The answer is all around us. Scenes from an insignificant blue-green planet. by momerath

All of these and even more imaginative and amazing scifi creations are available for that scifi lover in your life! I've seriously got my eye on a couple of them myself :)

I'll be back late tomorrow with a feature of a shade of yellow that's reminiscent of fresh corn, right off the cob! No doubt the items you'll see are just as delicious looking and there's always room for one or two more, so send yours on over by clicking here !!

Hope your weekend is proving to be a wonderful one :)


**designates an undiscovered or underdiscovered shop