A future from our past might appear in our present

February 27, 2022 4:00 PM

Technovelgy lists inventions from science fiction novels. Previously on MeFi (in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, and a couple other times too), the site catalogues the fantastic doodads imagined by writers—right alongside nonfictional tech news that dovetails with the scifi.
posted by Monochrome (5 comments total)

I like this a lot. And the origin of the thing isn't always what you'd expect. Lots of interesting sci-fi type ideas go back decades or even centuries earlier than their most famous appearance.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 4:06 PM on February 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

By the way, pretty much all of the old links (in the previous MeFi posts) to specific Technovelgy entries still work. I love that I didn’t have to resort to the Internet Archive.
posted by Monochrome at 4:14 PM on February 27, 2022

Arthur C Clarke invented the geostationary satellite communication network back in 1945, and ended up living in Sri Lanka, a near-equatorial (latitude ~6 °N) country with an arguable claim to control valuable space real estate where such a satellite could be put. Here is a 2009 article about a deal between a satellite company and Sri Lanka to launch such a satellite.

I’ve often wondered whether there was some kind of quid pro quo between Clarke and Sri Lanka, but I don’t really see how that could work.
posted by jamjam at 5:32 PM on February 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

Clarke moved to Sri Lanka in the early 1960s; The Fountains of Paradise was published in 1979, so presumably written 1977-78. But he'd worked out the basics of geostationary orbits long before he moved there—he first published on the subject in 1945.
posted by cstross at 2:02 AM on February 28, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is cool. And I missed all the previouslies. Thanks! (Though, it did take me a little while to stop being confused by my assumption it was entirely about technology that is real today that appeared in SF. Despite the clear description.)
posted by eotvos at 7:56 AM on February 28, 2022 [1 favorite]