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NASA Funds Sci-Fi Technology

Posted by michael on from the thinking-different dept.

Michael Huang writes "Wired News profiles the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC), the $4 million-a-year agency most famous for Bradley Edwards' study of the space elevator. Lesser known studies include weather control, shape-shifting space suits and antimatter-powered probes to Alpha Centauri. Remember, 'if it's not risky, it's not going to get funded'."

14 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. What? by Neil+Blender · · Score: 5, Funny

    NASA is getting into space things? That's odd.

    1. Re:What? by linzeal · · Score: 5, Funny
      Nasa getting into sci-fi would be like the US Military getting into video games, never going to happen.

      --
      An Education is the Font of All Liberty
  2. Be honest... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Be honest, you were outraged to hear that funding was given to wacky pseudo-science projects, weren't you?

    1. Re:Be honest... by Reorax · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was outraged to hear that funding was given to their wacky pseudo-science projects. Still nothing for my magnetic levitation air-hockey table.

      --
      This sig is only here so people stop skipping the last lines of my posts.
  3. Reminds me of a quote by jafo · · Score: 5, Funny

    This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, by Gordon Moore: "If everything you try works, you're not trying hard enough."

    Sean

  4. Do they have 500 Altairan dollars for by Intocabile · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. for the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon 6? Or is that not risky enough?

  5. Heh... by Burgundy+Advocate · · Score: 4, Funny
    Re-fund Orion.

    ...then Superfund the United States!

    --
    Dragging people kicking and screaming into reality since 1996.
    1. Re:Heh... by Patrik_AKA_RedX · · Score: 2, Funny

      I would definitly want to see Greenpeace protesting against that one. The standard Greenpeace protest involves chaining themselfs against whatever they are protesting against.

      Just picture this:

      1) build nuclear launch system.
      2) Allow greenpeace hippies to chain themselfs to launch system.
      3) Launch system.
      4) Annouce the first hippies in space to the world.

  6. Re:I hope they keep their funding... by Neil+Blender · · Score: 5, Funny

    Buckminster Fuller. Now that guy had balls.

  7. Risky Sci-Fi projects funded?? by dos4who · · Score: 3, Funny

    ..How about trying to get CowboyNeal a date?

    ~m

    --
    "Yes, I have a Disaster Recovery Plan. It's called my Resume"
  8. A modest proposal by icekillis · · Score: 4, Funny

    A modest proposal: Instead of just posting an article every time a Wired Article comes out, slashdot should just made a special section feeding everything from Wired.

  9. Web page desing by notany · · Score: 2, Funny

    At least they are not any of that 4 000 000$ year to web designers. That's allways a good sign.
    The homepage looks absolutely horrible!!

    --
    Dyslexics have more fnu.
  10. My risky proprosal: by Saeger · · Score: 3, Funny
    Dear NASA,

    Here is my 'sci-fi' grant proposal. I hope you approve:

    1. Wait for advanced nanotechnology and brain-scanning tech to emerge over the next 25 years. I'll still need funding during this period to analyze the research landscape for suitable bla bla (i.e. sit on my ass.)
    2. Launch a 'seed' probe using the old space elevator.
    3. Have the seed probe attach to any unclaimed, suitably-sized asteroid and self-assemble the solar arrays, dish, and computing substrate necessary for a couple million transhuman beings + "matrix" environment.
    4. "Broadcast" the willing scanned human minds from Earth for $0/lb (and let the bio-luddites join the dinosaurs.)
    5. Grow our new home into a dyson-sphere-sized Matrioshka Brain around the Sun to add to the "missing [thinking] matter" out there. :)
    6. No profit.

    --
    Power to the Peaceful
  11. Re:I hope they keep their funding... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    >> Buckminster Fuller. Now that guy had balls.

    Yeah, but really tiny ones.