Space: 1999... make that Space: Circa-2025 By Steve Tomkins What do mobile phones, the internet and Nasa's announcement that it plans to build a moon base have in common? They were all foretold by science fiction.
Space: 1999... make that Space: Circa-2025 By Steve Tomkins What do mobile phones, the internet and Nasa's announcement that it plans to build a moon base have in common? They were all foretold by science fiction.
The dawn of the new millennium almost six years ago was a big fat letdown on just about every count: the Millennium Bug that never bit, the River of Fire that fizzled instead of roared and, of course, the Millennium Dome.
The dawn of the new millennium almost six years ago was a big fat letdown on just about every count: the Millennium Bug that never bit, the River of Fire that fizzled instead of roared and, of course, the Millennium Dome.
But to sci-fi fans who had grown up with dreams inspired by Saturday morning screenings of Space: 1999, the disappointment was all the more palpable. Impressionable fans of the show had been led to believe that by the end of the century we'd be living on the Moon in cream flares.
But to sci-fi fans who had grown up with dreams inspired by Saturday morning screenings of Space: 1999, the disappointment was all the more palpable. Impressionable fans of the show had been led to believe that by the end of the century we'd be living on the Moon in cream flares.
Robots imagined and real, from Hitchhiker's Guide and from HondaAdmittedly the flares were uncannily accurate, but on all other counts, a generation had been lied to.
Futuristic fashion comes to passAdmittedly the flares were uncannily accurate, but on all other counts, a generation had been lied to.
What a thrill then, to hear that Moonbase Alpha is finally going ahead, 25 years behind schedule. Nasa is planning a permanent base on the Moon by the mid-2020s.
What a thrill then, to hear that Moonbase Alpha is finally going ahead, 25 years behind schedule. Nasa is planning a permanent base on the Moon by the mid-2020s.
Science fiction has had a mixed record in predicting the present - or "the future" as they called it back then. Take "personal communications devices". These are an everyday standard in sci-fi, from Blake's Seven to Battlestar Gallactica, and today they're an everyday reality in the form of mobile phones.
Science fiction has had a mixed record in predicting the present - or "the future" as they called it back then. Take "personal communications devices". These are an everyday standard in sci-fi, from Blake's Seven to Battlestar Gallactica, and today they're an everyday reality in the form of mobile phones.
But note what sci-fi didn't predict. Their devices were always on their wrists, like watches - no one realised we would need to hold them up to our ears so that no one else can hear. No one predicted how annoying they would be on the train. And you never get Captain Kirk saying, "I'll tell Scotty to beam us up... just as soon as I can get a signal." "Have you tried holding it really high up in the air, Captain?"
But note what sci-fi didn't predict. Their devices were always on their wrists, like watches - no one realised we would need to hold them up to our ears so that no one else can hear. No one predicted how annoying they would be on the train. And you never get Captain Kirk saying, "I'll tell Scotty to beam us up... just as soon as I can get a signal." "Have you tried holding it really high up in the air, Captain?"
Unless you are a photon yourself and only want to go a very, very short distance, teleportation is unlikely to work for you Talking of beaming up, teleportation is one area where science fiction is still light years ahead of us. The Tomorrow People could do it, as could Daleks, though The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy described it as "unpleasantly like being drunk". ("What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "You ask a glass of water.")
Unless you are a photon yourself and only want to go a very, very short distance, teleportation is unlikely to work for you Talking of beaming up, teleportation is one area where science fiction is still light years ahead of us. The Tomorrow People could do it, as could Daleks, though The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy described it as "unpleasantly like being drunk". ("What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" "You ask a glass of water.")
Scientists have recently achieved the teleportation of photons, which have no mass, but unless you are a photon yourself and only want to go a very, very short distance, this transport system is unlikely to work for you in the foreseeable future.
Scientists have recently achieved the teleportation of photons, which have no mass, but unless you are a photon yourself and only want to go a very, very short distance, this transport system is unlikely to work for you in the foreseeable future.
Final frontier
Other means of transport foreseen by novelists have come to pass. Aircraft, moon-landings and submarines all appeared in fiction before they were fact, the latter two thanks to Jules Verne.
Other means of transport foreseen by novelists have come to pass. Aircraft, moon-landings and submarines all appeared in fiction before they were fact, the latter two thanks to Jules Verne.
HG Wells described both fighter planes and bombers in When the Sleeper Awakes, four years before the Wright brothers' project got off the ground - one fantasy it might have been better to keep that way.
HG Wells described both fighter planes and bombers in When the Sleeper Awakes, four years before the Wright brothers' project got off the ground - one fantasy it might have been better to keep that way.
Crater expectations: One day we could all be living like thisInterstellar travel, however, whether by light-speed spaceship, police box or AWOL moonbase, is a toughie. Though it's a basic tenet of much sci-fi literature, we have to wait until someone comes up not so much with some new technology as some new physics. So no galactic federations or warp factors for a while yet.
Crater expectations: One day we could all be living like thisInterstellar travel, however, whether by light-speed spaceship, police box or AWOL moon base, is a toughie. Though it's a basic tenet of much sci-fi literature, we have to wait until someone comes up not so much with some new technology as some new physics. So no galactic federations or warp factors for a while yet.
In fact time travel might be more likely. A fantasy staple from Well's The Time Machine to Back to the Future, the science-fact writer Paul Davies argues it is feasible, by, for example, popping through wormholes in the space-time continuum.
In fact time travel might be more likely. A fantasy staple from Well's The Time Machine to Back to the Future, the science-fact writer Paul Davies argues it is feasible, by, for example, popping through wormholes in the space-time continuum.
He denies that you could change the past, because anything you do in the past will turn out to have already happened. So you could not kill your grandmother before she gave birth, but you could presumably become one of your own grandparents. (I'm not recommending this.)
He denies that you could change the past, because anything you do in the past will turn out to have already happened. So you could not kill your grandmother before she gave birth, but you could presumably become one of your own grandparents (I'm not recommending this).
To a real robot legs are just something to fall over with Telescreens are another sci-fi staple. Wells foretold portable TVs and video. In George Orwell's 1984 there is a telescreen in every home, because "Big Brother is watching you" - though as it turned out, it's we who are watching Big Brother.
Robots imagined and real, from Hitchhiker's Guide and from HondaTelescreens are another sci-fi staple. Wells foretold portable TVs and video. In George Orwell's 1984 there is a telescreen in every home, because "Big Brother is watching you" - though as it turned out, it's we who are watching Big Brother.
Instant two-way video calling is also upon us, although once again the sci-fi seers mostly omitted to mention the headaches of screen pixilation.
Instant two-way video calling is also upon us, although once again the sci-fi seers mostly omitted to mention the headaches of screen pixilation.
Robots too are a reality, although far from commonplace. They make our cars, sweep our minefields, repair our space stations, although housework is still proving something of a blind spot.
Robots too are a reality, although far from commonplace. They make our cars, sweep our minefields, repair our space stations, although housework is still proving something of a blind spot.
Walking on the Moon... that's just the start of itThe other obvious difference is that few real robots are human-shaped, as so many onscreen ones have been - not least to allow actors to fit inside. To a real robot legs are just something to fall over with.
Automaton
In fact a number of Japanese companies have now produced humanoid robots, including Kokoro's disturbingly lifelike Actroid, which (who?) is apparently available to chair meetings, and Honda's ASIMO which can run at 6mph.
The other obvious difference is that few real robots are human-shaped, as so many onscreen ones have been - not least to allow actors to fit inside. To a real robot, legs are just something to fall over with.
Walking on the Moon... that's just the start of itIn fact a number of Japanese companies have now produced humanoid robots, including Kokoro's disturbingly lifelike Actroid, which (who?) is apparently available to chair meetings, and Honda's ASIMO which can run at 6mph.
Lastly, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was an electronic book that tapped into a vast database of information, invaluable for its users, "though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate". You could hardly ask for a better prediction of the internet.
Lastly, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was an electronic book that tapped into a vast database of information, invaluable for its users, "though it has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least wildly inaccurate". You could hardly ask for a better prediction of the internet.
So although the millennium has not brought us the space age we were led to expect, we did at least get cyberspace. It will have to do for now.
So although the millennium has not brought us the space age we were led to expect, we did at least get cyberspace. It will have to do for now.
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